China's largest cinema chain reports surging first half revenue

A view of a Wanda cinema in Jiujiang, East China's Jiangxi province, June 18, 2016. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - Wanda Cinema Line, China's largest cinema chain, reported surging revenue in the first half of 2016 due to the country's booming film market.

The company raked in 5.72 billion yuan ($856 million) in the January-June period, up 64.12 percent year on year, according to a financial statement released Monday night.

The majority of Wanda Cinema Line's revenue came from box office, which reached 4 billion yuan in H1, up 40.6 percent year on year, while non-box-office businesses such as games and advertising grew to reach about one-third of total revenue, the statement said.

The cinema operator had 320 theaters with 2,789 screens across China at the end of June. Last August, the company decided to build a commercial ecosystem based on its large cinema network to offer more value-added services such as gaming to movie-goers.

China's box office surpassed 40 billion yuan (about $6 billion) in 2015 and is expected to reach $10.3 billion in 2017, becoming the world's largest movie market, according to a report released by international accounting firm PwC in June.

Wanda Cinema Line is also reaching out to the North American and European markets with acquisitions. The company is aiming for about 20 percent of global box office by 2020.