Filmgarde to shut Bugis+, Century Square cinemas

FILMGARDE Cineplexes announced on Tuesday (Jan 11) that it will be shutting 2 of its 3 cinemas in Singapore as part of a new transformative roadmap to keep up with changing trends in the film industry.

Filmgarde's Bugis+ and Century Square cinemas will cease operations following the expiry of their current leases at the 2 malls. These outlets will be progressively closed for reinstatement works starting in the first quarter of 2022, said the cinema operator in a press statement.

Meanwhile, plans for the third outlet at Leisure Park Kallang, as well as new business initiatives, will be announced in due course.

The homegrown company, which was set up in 2007, said that it will retain all staff who work at the 2 cinemas. They will be redeployed across other divisions such as its property and hospitality businesses.

Since 2013, Singapore's overall cinema attendance has been on a general decline, said Sherman Ong, head of cinema operations at Filmgarde. This is despite an increase in the number of screens and seating capacity during the same period. From 2017 to 2019, national cinema attendance had fallen to pre-2010 levels, according to Ong.

He added that the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated and exacerbated these existing trends.

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Cinema operators in Singapore were forced to close during the "circuit-breaker" period and although they can now open, permitted seating capacity has been cut due to social-distancing measures. 

The film industry is further challenged by the surge in online streaming platforms which has "fundamentally altered global content production and distribution models as well as audience behaviour and media consumption patterns", Ong added.

With the expiry of Filmgarde's leases at the 2 malls, it was therefore "timely" for the company to shift its investment towards developing new areas of growth within the media industry, he said. Filmgarde will also look to expand its presence in other sectors in a bid to keep up with market demand.

The move by Filmgarde comes on the heels of mm2 Asia's earlier deal with local investment firm Kingsmead Properties to sell its cinema business for S$84.8 million. However, mm2 announced on Jan 3 that the proposed sale, which was supposed to have been completed on Dec 31, had since fallen through. 

Kingsmead said the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant has dampened investor appetite "for the moment", though it acknowledged that the local and global cinema business has shown a strong turnaround in recent months.

"We hope to be able to revisit the acquisition again, and hopefully soon enough, when the Covid situation further eases," it said.

Kingsmead has chosen to exercise its exchange right, and will instead exchange its deposit of S$6 million into 75 million newly issued mm2 shares at a share price of S$0.08 per share.

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