AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., in the midst of a deal to merge with Carmike Cinemas Inc., reported better-than-expected profit in the latest quarter as revenue rose sharply.

The company benefited from its recent acquisition of Starplex Cinemas in December, Chief Executive Adam Aron said, adding that the Starplex transaction as well as the Carmike acquisition "should further serve to significantly accelerate the pace of our growth" at the company.

For the first three months of the year, AMC said it logged admissions revenue of $482.6 million compared with $418.7 million in the prior-year period, as average ticket price climbed to $9.42 from $9.35. Both admission revenue and average ticket price increased to first-quarter records, the company said.

Food and beverage revenues rose to $244.2 million from $200.5 million. Food and beverage revenues per patron increased 6.3% to $4.76, which AMC was its highest ever.

AMC said last month it agreed to buy Carmike Cinemas in a deal worth about $1.1 billion, including debt, that would form the world's largest movie-theater chain. The chief executives from both companies told The Wall Street Journal this month that the transaction is moving through a Justice Department antitrust review despite continued shareholder scrutiny. The CEOs said they saw the deal closing by the end of the year.

AMC has roughly 5,400 screens, while Carmike has more than 2,900.

Over all, AMC posted a profit of $28.3 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with $6.1 million, or six cents a share, a year ago. Excluding items, AMC earned 27 cents a share compared with a loss of a nickel a year ago.

Revenue climbed 17% to $766 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected per-share earnings of 21 cents on $769 million in revenue.

Shares, up 30% in the past three months, were unchanged premarket from Thursday's close at $28.33.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2016 08:15 ET (12:15 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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