Securities Times Wu Zhi

　　At 10:00 am on June 15th, with the countdown to zero and no one bidding, a batch of Barco DP2K-32BX projectors and other equipment ended in a failed auction on the online judicial auction platform.

　　This batch of cinema equipment with an estimated value of 650,000 yuan belongs to Fuzhou Xingmei Cinema Management Co., Ltd.

After being dismantled from the cinema, it has been stored in an underground warehouse on Changhe Road, Jin'an District, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province.

　　SMI International Cinemas, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed company SMI Holdings, once exceeded 300 in China.

Since 2018, with the outbreak of the SMI Holdings crisis, the company has been delisted, and a large number of SMI International Cinemas have been closed.

There are still many SMI cinema assets that have entered the auction market like this.

SMI Cinema Assets Frequent Auction Platform

　　From June 14th to June 15th at 10:00 am, the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court publicly auctioned a batch of assets of Fuzhou Xingmei Cinema Management Co., Ltd. on the Taobao judicial auction platform.

Including several Barco brand movie projectors, playback servers, audio processors, power amplifiers and 3D systems.

　　This batch of theater equipment was launched in 2015, with a total evaluation price and a starting price of 652,800 yuan.

According to the data, Fuzhou Xingmei was established in 2014. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chengdu Runyun Culture Communication Co., Ltd., the main body of Xingmei Holdings, which is engaged in theater operations.

　　On June 15, the auction of another batch of theater assets under SMI is also underway.

This batch of assets includes Sony digital cinema projectors, fans, radios, popcorn buckets and other equipment and inventory goods, with an appraised price of 348,800 yuan.

　　In September 2021, the People's Court of Changxing County, Huzhou ruled to accept the bankruptcy liquidation case of Huzhou Xingmei Cinema Management Co., Ltd.

Prior to this auction, the assets had been publicly auctioned seven times.

The starting price has dropped from the initial 348,800 yuan to 244,000 yuan and 119,000 yuan.

　　On June 15, the latest starting price of this batch of assets was set at 58,600 yuan, equivalent to only 16.8% of the appraised price.

But as of press time, no one has signed up and bid.

　　According to industry insiders to the reporter of Securities Times · e company, cinema equipment generally needs continuous debugging and maintenance.

Many theaters that have entered the auction process have been closed for more than a year. It is difficult to judge the preservation status of the auction equipment and whether the spare parts are complete. Therefore, even if the price is low, it is difficult for the auction to be successful.

　　In addition to small cinema assets, SMI's large assets have also entered the auction market many times.

In October last year, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court held a public auction on the related cinema properties of Bauhinia Commercial Plaza, No. 121, Honghuang Road, Longta Street, Yubei District, Chongqing City on the judicial auction platform of JD.com, with a starting price of 105 million yuan.

　　It is reported that the auction is the Bauhinia store of Chongqing Xingmei Cinema.

The reason for the auction was that Chengdu Runyun Real Estate Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Xingmei Holdings, failed to perform the contents determined by the effective legal documents, and the real estate it held was forced to auction.

　　According to the information on the page, as of August 24, 2021, when the property survey was conducted, the theater still owed about 889,000 yuan in property management fees.

Since no bid was made in the first auction, the asset was auctioned for a second time in November 2021 at a price of about 84.07 million yuan at a discount of 20%, and the auction failed again.

The top five film investment companies in the past

　　As a well-known domestic cinema investment company, the brand of SMI Cinema is not low in domestic popularity.

　　Data from the Beacon platform shows that in 2016 and 2017, SMI ranked sixth and fourth among domestic film investment companies, respectively. In 2017, the box office of SMI's theaters was nearly 1.7 billion yuan, second only to Wanda, Dadi, Hengdian.

　　In 2018, the box office of SMI’s theaters was 1.14 billion yuan, and its ranking dropped to 7th among film investment companies. In 2019 and 2020, the crisis of SMI intensified, and its ranking dropped to 18th and 43rd, respectively.

　　The latest data from the Beacon platform shows that SMI also has 146 theaters and 773 screens. Since the beginning of this year, the total box office has reached 4.61 million yuan, and SMI has ranked out of the top 100 among the national film investment companies.

　　Looking back, 2017 was both the peak period of SMI and the beginning of the crisis.

By the middle of 2018, the crisis of SMI was fully fermented, and its theaters were closed on a large scale. The company owed wages, rents, and copyright fees for films that had been screened. Some theater entities were even included in the list of dishonest persons subject to execution by the court.

　　There is a view that the occurrence of the SMI crisis stems from an overly aggressive expansion strategy.

Statistics show that from 2009 to 2017, the number of SMI’s cinemas increased from 3 to 365.

　　In the 2017 annual report, SMI Holdings stated that the development of the film market in mainland China can be described as "a thousand miles", and it is believed that the overall box office growth in 2018 is optimistic.

　　At the end of the year, the number of theaters under SMI Holdings reached 365, with a total of more than 2,290 screens, covering 140 cities in 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China.

The company said that in 2018, it will continue to work on expanding theaters. It plans to have 400 theaters by the end of 2018 through self-operation and acquisitions.

　　However, the 2018 crisis quickly became apparent.

By the end of 2018, its number of theaters had dropped to 288 with 1,792 screens, far less than expected.

　　In December 2018, SMI Holdings stated in a statement that the company’s unpaid employee wages were HK$108 million, the total rent paid for it was HK$201 million, and the group’s cinemas had not paid the relevant copyright fees to the film supplier for 1.5%. billion.

　　After the SMI crisis, a number of remedial measures have been taken, including returning to A shares and introducing external investors.

In May 2019, SMI Holdings claimed that the company's operations continued to improve and the theater resumption process accelerated. It is expected that the number of theaters under the group will reach more than 290 in the next two months, and it is expected to complete and restore no less than 350 theaters by the end of 2019. .

　　But since then, SMI's self-rescue measures have failed one after another, and the company has been delisted from Hong Kong stocks at the end of 2020.

Another listed entity of SMI, SMI Culture & Tourism, also delisted from the Hong Kong stock market in March this year.

　　It should be noted that the China Film Star Cinema Line, which has a high reputation in China, is a theater chain management company jointly established by China Film Group and Xingmei, of which Xingmei Pictures holds 40% of the shares.

The China Film Star Cinema Line and theaters are operating normally.

Cinemas have been auctioned

　　In addition to Xingmei Cinema, in the context of the continuous adjustment of the film and television industry, many cinema assets have appeared in auctions in recent years.

　　From April 18th to June 17th this year, the People's Court of Shunde District, Foshan City continued to publicize a number of machines and equipment such as movie projectors owned by the Shunde Daliang Branch of Guangdong Cross-border Sizhe Films Co., Ltd. on the Taobao judicial auction platform. Sale activity.

　　According to the announcement, a batch of equipment such as cinema seats and movie projection screens were sold this time.

According to reports, the cross-border Sage Cinema (Daliang Store) to which the device belongs has been closed for about a year and has been idle for a long time. There is dust on the surface.

　　Previously, this batch of equipment was auctioned for 290,000 yuan in February this year, but failed to sell; in March, it was auctioned for 240,000 yuan, but it also failed to sell.

Until this time it was sold at a price of 240,000 yuan, and the transaction has not been completed as of press time.

　　Yuejie Pictures was originally a New Third Board company. In terms of total box office, Yuejie Pictures was once the largest local theater chain in Chongqing.

According to the 2019 annual report, the company has 23 theaters.

In 2020, the business crisis of the cross-border film industry has deteriorated significantly. In December 2021, the cross-border film industry was ruled to enter the bankruptcy liquidation process.

　　In June this year, all the cinema equipment of Zhuji 100 Film City Co., Ltd., located in Zhuji City, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, was subject to judicial auction.

The auction, including cinema projection equipment and office equipment, had an appraised price of 3.49 million yuan. The auction started at a price of 2.45 million yuan, and it still ended in failure.

　　In April this year, nine sets of movie projectors, seven sets of movie stereo systems, seven screens, and 1,113 theater seats belonging to Jiangsu Huai'an Lianshui County Hairun Jinyi Film City Co., Ltd. were auctioned publicly.

The batch of equipment with an estimated value of more than 2 million yuan was auctioned at a price of 1.13 million yuan, but the auction was passed because no bid was made.

　　Relevant data show that by the end of 2021, there will be 14,480 movie theaters in my country and 82,248 screens, and the movie theater market will be highly competitive.

(e company)