Cineplex Inc

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Cineplex fourth quarter year-end 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Rehan Azmat. Sir, please begin.

Good morning, everyone. I'd like to welcome you to Cineplex's 4th Quarter 2025 Earnings Release Conference Call. I'm Rayhan Azmaz, Vice President, Investor Relations, Corporate Development and Financial Planning and Analysis at Cineplex. Joining me today are Alice Jacob, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Gordon Elson, our Chief Financial Officer. I'll remind you that certain statements made today are forward-looking and subject to various risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are based on management beliefs and assumptions regarding the information currently information regarding factors that cause results to vary can be found in the company's most recently filed annual information form and management discussion and analysis. Following today's remarks, we will close the call with our customary question and answer period. I will now turn the call over to Alex Jacob.

Thank you, Rayhan, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to present our fourth quarter and full year 2025 results with you today. We will start with a look at the fourth quarter, which featured a broad and compelling film slate that appealed to audiences across a wide range of genres. The quarter's performance was led by James Cameron's third installment in the Avatar franchise, Avatar Fire and Ash, which delivered a strong performance and over-indexed at Cineplex, powered by audience demand for our premium experiences. Following close behind was family title Zootopia 2, which provided incredible results and has become the highest grossing Disney animation release of all time globally. The musical Wicked for Good enchanted audiences and contributed meaningfully to the quarter's performance. In addition, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 delivered the largest December opening ever for a horror film. Together, these results reinforce a familiar truth. When compelling content is available, guests choose to experience it at our theaters. While the quarter included several standout films and strong performances in our premium formats, Q4 results were down compared to last year, driven primarily by the weakest October since 2020. After the slow start to the quarter, the slate strengthened significantly through November and December, supported by the wide range of high-performing titles and leading to our strongest December since 2019. In fact, our fourth quarter box office performance exceeded the domestic market by 218 basis points, marking the third consecutive quarter where we outpaced the North American industry performance. Our premium formats remain one of Cineplex's competitive advantages with guests overwhelmingly choosing to view films in one of the many enhanced formats we offer. In Q4, 43% of our box offers came from premium experiences versus 41% in 2024. Our premium formats continue to play a major role in the performance of 2025's biggest titles with our top five firms averaging 62% of our box office from premium formats. The strong demand for premium experiences combined with strategic pricing and a continued focus on the guest experience contributed to new all-time records. In Q4, we delivered the highest quarterly box office per patron in our history at $13.87, and a Q4 record for concession for patrons at $9.92. Our distribution business, Cineplex Pictures, also had a strong fourth quarter. The housemate opened in Q4 and has delivered impressive holding power into January, and Now You See Me, Now You Don't performed exceptionally well in Canada. Our distribution team continues to demonstrate that we can drive better results as a distributor because of our deep understanding of the Canadian movie goal, allowing us to effectively position and market titles to maximize their potential in this market. The success of our distribution business in the fourth quarter was also highlighted by Jujitsu Kaizen, The anime title performed well and is part of a broader resurgence in the genre. Earlier in 2025, Demon Slayer Infinity Castle became the highest grossing foreign language film of all time at the domestic box office. Its performance reinforced how anime tentpoles can drive exceptional results when they tap into large, passionate fan bases built over years of televised storytelling. This dynamic extends beyond anime with the Stranger Things series finale, which sold out at 97% of our locations showing the event. These events reinforce that audiences are choosing to come to our theaters for moments they could easily watch at home, drawn to shared and immersive cultural experiences that resonate more deeply in our cinema. The fourth quarter once again showcased the value of our data-driven audience targeting and localized marketing expertise. International content represented more than 11% of our Q4 box office, nearly double the North American average, further demonstrating our ability to identify titles that resonate with specific demographic groups. One of the standout performers this quarter was Dohan Dahar, which became the highest grossing Hindi language film in North America, where Cineplex delivered an impressive 31% market share and ranked among our top five films for the quarter. This underscores how alternative and international content remain key differentiators for Cineplex and positions us well for 2026, which includes a number of highly anticipated international releases, including Blades of the Guardians and Scare-Out, both of which debut at the start of Lunar New Year, as well as a sequel to Dohan Dahar in March and Ramayana Part 1 later this year during the Indian Festival Diwali. Our programming strengths form an important competitive advantage, reflecting the power of our analytical capabilities and reinforcing the essential role this content plays in the future of theatrical. Turning to our media business, cinema media continued to perform well despite a softer advertising market. Q4 revenues increased 12.5% over the prior despite a decrease in attendance. As a result, our cinema media per patron reached a Q4 record of $3.33. Advertisers remain attracted to the high attention environment that only theatrical can offer. Our team continues to leverage data and analytics to optimize campaign performance and demonstrate clear value to our agency partners and clients. We successfully closed the sale of Cineplex Digital Media to Creative Reality Inc. on November 7, 2025. The transaction unlocks meaningful value for shareholders while strengthening our balance sheet. The initial cash proceeds of approximately $60 million provide flexibility for share buybacks, debt reduction, and general corporate purposes. Importantly, Cineplex Media will continue as CDN's exclusive advertising sales agent for its digital out-of-home networks across Canada, ensuring continuity for clients and maintaining a strong presence in this market. Turning to our location-based entertainment business, revenue increased 6.8% to $35.9 million in the fourth quarter, driven by the contribution of new locations opened in the prior year. This performance comes against the backdrop of broader industry trends where many operators seem same-store revenue decline in the same range we are. Despite the softer top-line results, we continue to demonstrate strong operational discipline which helped us maintain flat same-store margins. This reflects the expertise of our teams and our ongoing efforts to optimize the operations of our location. During the quarter, we announced that construction of a new palladium is underway at Vaughan Mills, one of Canada's most visited shopping and entertainment destinations. This location will further strengthen our position in the GTA and expand our ability to offer guests a dynamic social entertainment experience anchored in gaming, attractions, and food and beverage. Our Cineplex Club program remains a powerful driver of engagement and frequency. Membership has now surpassed 225,000 members, and we continue to see strong adoption of the annual plan which helps reduce churn and supports more consistent visitation throughout the year. Cine Club members visit more often, choose premium formats at a higher rate, and spend more on concessions. All signs the program is delivering meaningful value both for our guests and our business. Our new Monday surprise premieres have also been extremely well-received. offering moviegoers early access to select titles and creating a sense of exclusivity that strengthens loyalty and deepens engagement. Our broader loyalty ecosystem has also taken an important step forward with the expansion of ScenePlus to include Shell as a national partner. This addition enhances the everyday utility of ScenePlus by connecting entertainment, groceries, travel, dining, and now gas into a holistic value proposition. The ability for guests to earn and redeem points across such a wide range of touch points in their daily lives strengthens ScenePlus as one of Canada's leading loyalty programs. I'd like to provide a brief update on our appeal of the Competition Tribunal's decision regarding our online booking fees. The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the Competition Tribunal's September 2024 decision relating to Cineplex's presentation of its online booking fee, including the $39 million administrative monetary penalty. We respectfully disagree with the Federal Court of Appeal's decision, and we continue to believe that our online booking fee has always been presented in a clear and prominent manner that fully complies with the spirit and letter of the law. We have reviewed the Federal Court of Appeals decision and will seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada and seek the state of this penalty. As we look back on the full year, we started with a soft first quarter, but Q2 through Q4 benefited from a relatively consistent release schedule and a diverse slate of quality films contributing to a solid and steady performance through the balance of the year. From April through December, we delivered box office revenues of 105% of the prior year and outperformed the domestic market over the same period, reflecting the unique strength of our programming strategy and the engagement we continue to see from Canadian moviegoers. Our investment in premium experiences continue to resonate with 44.8% of our box office from Q2 through Q4 generated from premium experiences, the highest proportion since the same timeframe in 2018. Audiences embraced a wide range of genres and formats. Superman and the Fantastic Four First Steps both became the highest-grossing films in their franchise. Live action films, remakes of Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon both outperformed their original film. A Minecraft movie delivered the biggest opening ever for a video game adaptation. Best Picture nominee F1 the movie became Apple's highest grossing film of all time, driven by exceptional performance in our premium format. Horror film The Conjuring Lost Rights became the highest grossing in its franchise An original title, Sinners and Weapons, will both stand out performances and exceeded expectations. Despite this breadth of success, no film surpassed $500 million at the domestic box office, the first time this has occurred since 2016. We do not expect this anomaly to occur again. What gives us more confidence is that the 2026 film slate is shaping up to be significantly stronger than 2025 with both mega blockbusters and depth. Audience engagement with trailers and teasers is suggesting that consumers are meaningfully more interested in 2026 titles than they were in 2025. The 2026 lineup features a remarkable collection of strong intellectual property with incredible brand recognition, including the Super Mario Galaxy movie, Toy Story 5, a live-action remake of Moana, Spider-Man Brand New Day, Doom Part 3, and Avengers Doomsday. The slate also includes compelling original titles such as Pixar's Hoppers, Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day, and Chris Nolan's epic The Odyssey. Cineplex Pictures will be distributing the highly anticipated film Michael, which is the most watched biopic trailer ever. It is also acting as distributor for the new installment from the Hunger Games franchise, Sunrise on the Reaping. These releases position 2026 as a year with significant strength and greater depth than 2025. With our focus on premium experiences, innovative programming, loyalty engagement, and an increasing diverse slate, Cineplex is well positioned to capture demand as it develops over the course of the year. Before I close, I'm pleased to announce the appointment of Sean McGuckin to our Board of Directors. As the former group head and CFO at Scotiabank, Sean brings intensive leadership experience in finance, governance, and executive management, and his strategic insight will be a huge asset. We look forward to the valuable perspective he will bring to the board. I would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Rob Bruce for his many years of dedicated service and meaningful contributions to Cineplex. His leadership, counsel, and support have played an important role in guiding the company, and we are deeply appreciative of his commitment throughout his tenure. I will now turn the call over to Gordon Ellison, our Chief Financial Officer, to walk you through the financials in more detail. Thank you.

Thanks, Ellis. I am pleased to present a condensed summary of the fourth quarter and four-year 2025 results for Cineplex, Inc. For further reference, our financial statements and MD&A have been filed on CDAR Plus and are also available on our investor relations website at cineplex.com. Our MD&A and earnings press release include a complete narrative on the operational results, so I will focus on highlighting select items in addition to providing commentary on liquidity, capital allocation priorities, and our outlook. For my comments on operations, all amounts following will be from continuing operations unless otherwise stated. As Alice mentioned, the fourth quarter was supported by several highly anticipated releases. Our EBITDA remained relatively flat to the prior year despite lower attendance. Total revenue for the quarter was $334.8 million, a decrease of 1.8% from Q4 2024, driven primarily by lower attendance. Adjusted EBITDA was $35.1 million, just below the $35.8 million reported in the prior year reflecting the impact of the lower theater volumes related to a weak start to the quarter partially offset by strong for patron performance and continued cost discipline our consolidated evadel margin remained steady at 10.5 percent consistent with the prior year so now let's take a closer look at the segments in the film entertainment and content segment Box office revenue for the quarter was $140.7 million, down 4.7%, reflecting the 8.9% decrease in attendance to 10.1 million guests. October results were impacted by a softer film slate and competing live events, such as the MLB Playoffs and World Series, which featured our Toronto Blue Jays and generated record-breaking viewership across Canada. As a result, the Canadian market underperformed the North American market by 480 basis points in October. These softer results were partially offset by a strong rebound in the latter half of November and through December, led by Wicked for Good, Zootopia 2, and Avatar Fire and Ash. The strength in the latter half of the period contributed to Cineplex outperforming the North American box office by 218 basis points for the fourth quarter. Our Q4 BPP of $13.87 was the highest delivered in any quarter on record and represents an increase of 4.6% from last year. This was supported by strategic pricing initiatives and a strong mix of premium products. Similarly, concession per patron reached a Q4 record of $9.92 and our second highest quarterly result ever, up 5.4%, driven by continued enhancements in menu offerings, purchase incidents, and service execution. While our cash rent paid and payable is lower due to closed locations and the renegotiation of leases upon renewal, theater occupancy increased approximately $3 million over the prior year, primarily due to tax and insurance recoveries reflected in the prior year. Segment adjusted EBITDA for film entertainment and content was $14.9 million compared to $26.6 million last year, reflecting the attendance decline and higher film settlement rates on this quarter's top performing titles. In our media segment, cinema media revenue increased 12.5% to $33.8 million, driven primarily by higher demand for Showtime advertising with strong contributions from pharmaceutical, retail, and fragrance and cosmetic clients. The launch of programmatic cinema in the fourth quarter also unlocked incremental demand from connected TV budgets, bringing new advertisers into the cinema environment, particularly within the consumer packaged goods category. Cinema media per patron increased 23.3% to a Q4 record $3.33, reflecting strong advertising engagement especially during an uneven attendance quarter. As a result of the revenue increase, segment adjusted EBITDA was $28.3 million, up from $24.9 million in the prior year. On a full year basis, EBITDA margin in this segment increased to 80.5% from 79.2% in the prior year. Location-based entertainment revenue for the quarter was $35.9 million, an increase of 6.8% from the prior year, driven primarily by the three new locations that opened in late 2024 and contributed a full quarter of results this year versus only partial contribution last year. Same-store revenue declined 4.1%, consistent with trends observed across the broader LBE industry. Despite these revenue declines, same store adjusted EBITDA margin of 23.1% remained stable year over year, demonstrating the operational improvements and cost discipline we've executed on. These efficiencies helped mitigate the impact of minimum wage increases. Overall, adjusted store level EBITDA for the quarter was $7.6 million compared to $7.9 million last year, with an overall margin of 21.1%. At the segment level, adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 16.4%, up from 10.2% due to fewer pre-opening costs in 2025. G&A expenses for the quarter were $14 million, down $5.2 million from the prior year. This decrease was primarily driven by lower LTIP expenses due to increased forfeitures associated with the cost restructuring program and a lower share price. In November, we completed the sale of Cineplex Digital Media and received $60 million in initial cash proceeds. We recognized the gain of $3.3 million and have presented the gain in net income from discontinued operations. Importantly, Cineplex will continue as the exclusive advertising sales agent for CDM's digital out-of-home networks nationwide under a long-term agreement, preserving continuity and value in our media business. We ended the quarter with $134 million in cash on the balance sheet and no drawings under our $100 million Covenant White credit facility. The December cash balance is higher than prior period due to the $60 million in initial cash proceeds received on the sale of CDM, in addition to working capital and CEIB and operating results impacting this balance. With respect to CapEx, net cash capital expenditures for the fourth quarter were $8.1 million, reflecting lower growth spending following the completion of our major LBE openings in late 2024. For the full year, net CapEx was $32.7 million, lower than the $65.9 million in the prior year, which included the three new LBE locations and . Our guidance for 2026 is $50 million. Our capital allocation priorities remain unchanged and include maintenance capital expenditures, strengthening the balance sheet to achieve our target leverage ratios, providing shareholder returns in the form of share buybacks and or dividends, and selective investment in growth opportunities. During the fourth quarter, we repurchased approximately $7 million in common shares for cancellation under the NCIB, and we repurchased an additional $5 million in shares in January 2026. We expect the remaining funds from the sale of CDM to be allocated toward a contribution combination of debt reduction, opportunistic buybacks or other corporate purposes consistent with our capital priorities. As Ellis mentioned, with respect to the Federal Court of Appeal upholding the Competition Bureau September 2024 decision related to the presentation of our online booking fee, We had previously accrued for the $39 million administrative monetary penalty during the third quarter of 2024. There's no impact to our financial statements as a result of this decision, and we will seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada and seek a stay of this penalty. Results reflect consistent performance across our business. For 2025, total revenues increased 0.8% to $1.2 billion, supported by record per-patriot metrics, strong media performance, and stabilized margins in the LBE segment, despite macroeconomic impacts. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $91.6 million, up from $90 million in the prior year, reflecting continued operational discipline and the strength of our teams despite slightly lower attendance. While our consolidated results in 2025 showed modest growth relative to 2024, a notably weak film slate in the first quarter and start to Q4 hindered our results. We have said that quality content and consistency brings guests to our theaters, and looking ahead to 2026, we expect to benefit from year-over-year improvements in the strength and depth of the film slate. So in summary, we have a strong pipeline of product coming in 2026, particularly in Q2 through Q4. We remain focused on creating long-term value for shareholders, and our long history of disciplined operations and capital management will lead us there. With that, I would like to turn things over to the conference operator for questions.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question or comment at this time, please press star 11 on your telephone keypad. If your question has been answered or you wish to remove yourself from the queue, simply press star 11 again. Again, if you have a question or comment, please press star 11 on your telephone keypad. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question or comment comes from the line of Derek Lessard from TD Cowan. Mr. Lessard, your line is open.

Yeah, good morning, Ellis and Gord. Hope you're doing well. Thanks, Derek. I just wanted to maybe hit down on the media business. Obviously, it's a pretty good quarter. But you did talk about the launch of programmatic cinema. Could you maybe just add some color around this business and then further around the comments of how it's unlocking new advertisers for you?

Sure. So we had adopted programmatic, slowly ramping it up over the past year or so. been very effective, particularly in the at-home networks. And we've launched it in Q4 as it relates to kind of opportunities in the cinema market. And so although we've had programmatic in our learnings in the at-home market, we're really seeing values. We can move budgets away from connected TVs into our programmatic markets. And we saw some great insights in that first quarter of deployment in 2020, in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Okay, that's helpful. And then on the BPP, CPP, both records, so how should we be thinking about, I guess, your ability to further pricing and or mix optimization going forward?

Yeah, so, you know, our comments on sort of Q3 is, you know, we, in Q3 results, we want some additional data $5 discount days, which went through the Labor Day weekend in 2025, which did not happen in 2024. So in Q3, when you look at our full year results, really look at Q3 as a bit of an anomaly, and we mentioned that during the call. So you see the rebound of the growth in both BPP and CPP in the fourth quarter of 2024. And so as we look forward, we had always said we looked to pass on, you know, kind of CPI increases you know, in terms of BPP and CPP growth. And then as premium mix shifts, we also benefit from that perspective. Now, in any given quarter, the film suede and the type of audience that it attracts, whether it's kids or whether it's seniors or whether it's people looking to see, you know, in the big screen like Ultra ADX and IMAX, that impacts the overall BPP. But on a long-term basis, we would look to you know, look to continue to take price through CPI increases as we have done historically and balancing out the value offerings that we have, which is, you know, our Tuesday offerings and our Cine Club program and the other offerings that are out there.

Okay. Thanks, Cordell. I'll read you.

Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Charles Zhang from Canaccord Genuity. Mr. Zhang, your line is open.

All right. Thank you. Just regarding the core decision. So, as you mentioned, Gordon, the provision was already made in last Q3, right? Just to confirm.

Correct. Yeah.

Yeah. And maybe on OPEX and some costs tied to the online tickets, maybe paper off in the future. I mean, do you see any rooms for, like, further cost reductions going forward on that aspect?

Sorry, I missed the first part of the question related to which aspect?

Related to the online booking fees.

So, look, I'm not sure that there are costs related to the online operating OPEX kind of matters related to the online booking fee matter. We always strive for from an OpEx perspective is looking for automation and AI to help us, you know, drive efficiencies and opportunities for savings. And so we would continue to do that. You know, our online ticketing offering is one of our kind of guest service initiatives that we have out there. And as we look to create digital connections with customers, it's just another element of those connections.

Okay, thank you. Um, maybe on on media, I mean, um, cinema media definitely, um, deliver strong Q4 results. And, um, also we're looking at a pretty strong film slate coming this year in 26, including, like, uh, Super Mario, Spiderman, Avengers. Um, and I'm wondering, how are you thinking about the outlook there for the cinema media?

Yeah, we are pretty confident on the media side of the business as a result of, like you mentioned, there is some extremely good content that we have in 2026. So we should be able to continue to move forward strongly. And, you know, also on the digital media side, we are still providing that selling for those particular locations across the country.

Okay, thank you. I'll pass the line.

Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Emer Yagi from Scotiabank. Mr. Yagi, your line is open.

Great. Thank you for taking my questions. I noticed that your theater occupancy expenses were up 20% here on the R&Q4, but also 6% on the year. mostly from a line, you know, other occupancy cost line. Can you provide some insight on what is driving this, even though you are down four tiers year on year, and how do you expect that cost line to behave next year?

Yeah, sure. Maris Gord here. I called out a couple items. So, in that cost category, so this is typically non- contractual rent. So it would include related, sorry, occupancy, which does not include contractual rent obligations. So it would include common area maintenance costs. It would include property taxes. It would include insurance on the facilities. And those would be the kind of the core main categories in that line item. I called out a few things in that last year during the quarter, we had some insurance recoveries as well as some property tax recoveries that caused Q4 last year to be lower than typical run rate. If you look at each of the quarters, that line item, or that category for each of the quarters of the year, you'll see that it's a relatively consistent number. So it will go up and down with where property tax assessments go typically.

Okay, and it could increase a bit, I guess, for next year if it's linked a lot to property taxes.

Yeah, I mean, you would expect – I mean, we're seeing a couple things out there. One is we – you're seeing ongoing increases in property taxes. We are seeing some level of reduction in insurance costs as we look forward. But the big increase will be related to – you know, property taxes. But again, when you look at, you know, roughly $240 million in total, you know, overall occupancy costs, which includes the rent, the rent component is continuing to go down.

Yeah, okay.

And just to follow up on that, in terms of theater count for 2026, how should we think, you know, about your year end getting to from, from a starting base here in Q1. Is it going to continue to decline like we saw in 24 and 25?

No, we don't expect in 2026 that it continues to decline. We will have a number of closures. I'm sure you've heard about the beaches, which was announced. But we feel that the overall box office will be much stronger in 2026 compared to 2025 because of the content that we have and the great product for the balance of the year.

Okay. But the theater count will be roughly the same as you ended in 2025?

No, we'll be down two to three theaters.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for clarifying that. That was what I was trying to get down to. So in terms of just final question here for me, you know, looking at the last two years, you've been holding steady at around 92, 94 million of EBITDA. And is this, I assume this is a good starting base for us to use it for 26, but I'm sure you're expecting growth, as you mentioned, in 2021. from your expectations of better movie theater deployments and shows. But roughly speaking, how should we think about 2026 in terms of EBITDA cash generation?

Well, the industry is predicting box office increases from 8% to 15% over 2025. And with our international content and our distribution business, we should be well engaged in getting reasonably strong numbers for 2026. And that will result in stronger EBITDA as we look forward. Okay.

Great. Thank you for that. Have a nice day. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Drew McReynolds from RBCCM. Mr. McReynolds, your line is open.

Hi there. This is Sarah on for Drew, and thank you for taking my question. I just have a quick question on expectations for same-store revenue growth for 2026 for LBE, and additionally when LBE begins to lap the changes in discretionary spending and consumer behavior. Thank you.

We are confident that our continued focus on marketing, expansion, special offers, and growth in groups and event sales will positively impact our performance across both same store and newer locations for LBE. And as we mentioned earlier, that we are going to be opening a location in Vaughan, and that will also assist us in continuing to build the business going forward.

Thank you.

Our next question or comment comes from the line of Drew Reichert from BMO Capital Markets. Mr. Reichert, your line is now open.

Yeah, thank you. This is Drew Reichert on for Tim Casey. The film cost as a percentage of box offices trended up slightly year over year and has risen steadily over the past few years. How do you see film cost percent playing out in 2026 given film supply and premium mix?

Film cost is really driven by the performance of the films. And one of the challenges we run into is when you have a lot of bigger producing films, the film cost does go up. But I always say I'd rather have higher box office and pay film costs because you've got more attendance and more, you know, guests coming through the theaters. And that's something that, you know, we'll continue to focus and pursue. And what helps too for us in certain cases is the increased film costs from Hollywood is basically helped by, you know, our international content where we have better film settlements in certain cases.

Okay. And just as a follow-up regarding CapEx trends, CapEx was down pretty significantly in 2025 given the three location expansions in Q4 of 24. Could we expect further LDA expansion? LBE expansions to return post-summer 2026?

So we have one location which we announced, the Palladium and Vaughan, which is going to open in the first half of this year. And we, at this point in time, we have described that we have what we described as a prudent pause. We see the disruption in the retail landscape. We think there are going to be what we see retailers leaving, that there's going to be some great opportunities in great locations, have such a great economics. So we have no further commitments at this time, but we continue to be monitoring opportunities that may exist out there.

Okay, thank you very much. Thank you.

Again, ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question or comment at this time, please press star 1-1 on your telephone keypad. We have a follow-up question from Mr. Derek Lessard from TD Cowell. Mr. Cowell, your line is open.

Yeah, thanks. Just a follow-up for me. Now with the three LBEs done and cash in the bank from the digital media sales, just curious how you are prioritizing capital between the buyback leverage and sort of other growth initiatives.

Yeah, so, and those are really our priorities. So in terms of, you know, obviously the maintenance cap access first, our leverage is, you know, we're not where we are, where we want to be in our comfort zone. So that is, I would say that priority too. And then as I believe I described, you know, on the call last time, you know, where we exist today is, you know, there's a maximum of about $17.5 million that can be allocated to share buybacks. And so we're at 12. So when you think of the overall scheme of things, those are some of the factors that are behind our minds as we go and evaluate how we allocate capital going forward.

Okay. Thanks, Gordon.

Thank you. I'm sure no additional questions in the queue at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.

Thank you again for joining the call this morning. We are excited about the outlook for 2026, and even the coming weekend, we're looking forward to three movies that are opening, Wuthering Heights, Goat, and Crime 101. So make sure you are at the movie theater, and we look forward to sharing our first quarter results in May 2026. Have a wonderful day. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone have a wonderful day. Speakers, stand by.