Milwaukee-based The Marcus Corp. reported first quarter net earnings of $12.3 million, or 45 cents per share, down from $12.8 million, or 50 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2013.
Total revenues were $131.8 million, up from $129 million in the same period a year ago.
The company attributed the decline in earnings to its Marcus Theatres segment, which saw fewer blockbusters and family-oriented movies during the middle of summer than usual. The top five films in the first quarter were Guardians of the Galaxy, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Maleficent, 22 Jump Street and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Marcus’ implementation of its new loyalty program and in-theater amenities also hurt its bottom line.
The Marcus Hotels & Resorts segment reported the highest operating income for the quarter since fiscal 2007. The company recorded $34.7 million in room revenue, up from $32.6 million a year ago.
“We are pleased to report record first quarter revenues for The Marcus Corporation and for Marcus Hotels & Resorts. Marcus Theatres’ admissions revenues continued to outperform the industry, in spite of a weaker summer movie slate,” said Gregory Marcus, president and chief executive officer of The Marcus Corp. “The weak summer movie slate has been well documented. Within this environment, we are encouraged by the fact that we outperformed the industry for the third consecutive quarter. The national box office was down 12.7 percent for the corresponding weeks of our first quarter, according to Rentrak, while our box office was down just 1.8 percent.”
Marcus also announced it has promoted Kim Lueck to chief information office. She will continue to serve as vice president of technology for the Marcus Theatres division, and will now become part of the Marcus Corp. executive management committee.
Lueck has been at Marcus for 17 years. She will be responsible for vision and leadership in the development and application of technology projects for The Marcus Corp.