Deep-dive 2020-3: Major Cineplex Group Public Co Ltd

Major Cineplex (MAJOR TB) is the leading cinema operator in Thailand with 815 screens in Thailand and neighbouring countries.

The company is run by a hungry entrepreneur called Vicha Poolvaraluk, who built the company from scratch. He owns 30% of the shares and is said to be honest, ambitious and aggressive. At age 57, he is still highly involved in the company and wants to see it grow.

While European and North American box office revenues are stagnant, the Thai box office is growing at 10-15% per year. The number of screens per capita are still at only 50% of that in Malaysia and only 13% of that in the United States. Another area of opportunity is concession revenues. In Thailand, they represent only about ~19% of revenues vs 40-50% for developed market cinemas.

COVID-19 hit the company hard. After Thailand entered a full lock-down from March to May 2020, Major Cineplex shut down its entire operation. Screens re-opened in June, but at a reduced capacity of only 25%. While the number of…