AMC Theatres Lays Off 35 Corporate Staffers Amid Restructuring

Despite a positive quarter, shares of the exhibitor remain off 46 percent in less than a year.

AMC Entertainment laid off 35 corporate staffers and will not fill an additional 15 jobs that had been open, the result of a restructuring, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

AMC, which operates about 10,675 movie screens, is coming off a fair quarter, reporting a 4 percent rise in revenue to $1.5 billion and a 123 percent surge in net earnings to $49.4 million, not only due to a huge box office haul in the U.S. during the second quarter but also because its AMC Stubs loyalty program crossed 21 million households while its Stubs A-List subscription service crossed 900,000 users.

Still, investors want more out of AMC — and all of the theater chains — as the company faces competitive pressures from on-demand streaming services where consumers can choose from thousands of hours of programming each month for about the price of two movie tickets.

"As announced during a recent conference call with investors, the company is implementing a profit improvement plan intended to achieve operating and administrative efficiencies," a company spokesperson said Thursday. "This has resulted in difficult but necessary organizational changes."

Despite a positive quarter, AMC shares remain off 46 percent in less than a year and have performed worse than Imax and Cinemark, though far better than luxury chain iPic, where shares have plunged from $15 about 18 months ago to less than $1 as the company seeks bankruptcy protection.

After the restructuring, which is designed to cut costs in order to boost profits, AMC still employs more than 600 people in its home office in Leawood, Kansas, up from less than 400 six years ago.

"This growth in employment has been sparked by AMC becoming the largest movie theater company in the world," the spokesperson noted Thursday.

The AMC rep said all associates losing their jobs will get severance benefits and outplacement services, including access to a job-search and career-support firm.