Dalian Wanda, the Chinese property to entertainment conglomerate that recently swallowed “Dark Knight” producer Legendary, reported revenues up by 11% across the group.
The privately-owned group announced partial figures on Tuesday. It said that revenues in the January to June period hit $18 billion (RMB119 billion.)
Within that its overseas revenue climbed by 79% to $2.68 billion (RMB17.7 billion.) That reflects a string of overseas acquisitions that have included the Hoyts cinema chain in Australia and the Infront sports marketing firm from Italy. Wanda’s overseas hotel portfolio has also grown as the group builds more properties.
Wanda Cultural Industry Group, which includes the listed Wanda Cinema Line subsidiary, saw revenue climb by 57% to $4.39 billion (RMB29.0 billion.)
The group, controlled by the multi-billionaire Wang Jianlin, is currently in the process of reorganizing many of its units. Wang has announced an offer to take private the Hong Kong-listed Wanda Commercial Properties company, which had revenues of $10 billion (RMB64.4 billion). And in recent weeks, bolstered by the sexy Legendary deal, it has raised capital from third parties for Wanda Cinema, which previously was a pure-play exhibitor. Revenues at Wanda FIlm increased by 43% to $2.89 billion (RMB19.1 billion.)
The Legendary deal’s $3.5 billion price tag has often been questioned in entertainment circles. But Wanda’s faith in the business was bolstered by the smash hit success of Legendary’s "Warcraft” property at the Chinese box office. With a gross of $220 million, it is the third biggest film this year in Chinese theaters.
Wanda Tourism’s revenues increased by 33% to $913 million (RMB6.03 billion.) That total appears likely to go higher in future reports following the recent opening of a city theme park, and an outdoor theme park at Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna. Wang was recently caught up in a war of words over theme parks in China shortly before the opening of Shanghai Disneyland in June.