Cathay Cineplexes ceases operations as talks with creditors fall through

Struggling cinema chain Cathay Cineplexes has ceased operations as of Monday (Sep 1), shortly after its voluntary liquidation was announced earlier in the day.

The cinema chain, which owes money to landlords of several of its outlets, will undergo voluntary liquidation, said its parent company mm2 Asia.

“Cathay Cineplexes had attempted to negotiate amicable resolutions with the various creditors, but (it) was unable to arrive at mutually agreeable restructuring outcomes of its payment obligations owed to these creditors,” said the media company, which operates the cinema chain.

In an Instagram post on Monday, the cinema chain said that it had “ceased operations with immediate effect”.

Its website displayed no movie screenings as at Monday 11.48 am, although four cinema venues remained listed on the site. These are its Causeway Point, Downtown East, Century Square and Clementi outlets.

Having considered the cinema chain’s financial position and the absence of restructuring outcomes, the board of Cathay Cineplexes has determined that it is “no longer feasible” for it to continue operating as a going concern, mm2 Asia said.

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The board will proceed with a creditors’ voluntary liquidation of Cathay Cineplexes, said the entertainment group, which recently posted a wider H2 net loss for its financial year ended Mar 31, 2025.

According to its financials released on Aug 28, mm2 Asia’s net loss for H2 widened by more than 10 times to S$101.3 million, from S$8.7 million in the year-ago period, as fewer projects in the concert and event and cinema business were completed.

An extraordinary general meeting of the members of Cathay Cineplexes and a meeting of its creditors will be convened in due course.

mm2 Asia’s statement named as claimants DBS Trustee, the trustee of Lendlease Global Commercial Reit, and the landlords of Century Square mall, Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No 2193 and Century Square LLP.

It also named HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore), the trustee of Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT), Lendlease Retail Investments 3 (in members’ voluntary liquidation), Alprop and Resorts Concept.

In recent months, Cathay Cineplexes received millions in payment demands from landlords of its outlets over rental arrears and other monies owed.

This came alongside a string of cinema outlet closures, with its Jem outlet shuttering in March and its West Mall outlet winding down in February.

In January, the cinema chain received payment demands for around S$2.7 million from the landlords of its Century Square and Causeway Point outlets. Both malls are owned by FCT.

Alprop submitted a claim of around S$1 million for the West Mall outlet which closed in February, on behalf of the mall’s landlord UOL Group.

The landlord of its Jem outlet, Lendlease Global Commercial Reit, issued a S$3.4 million payment demand in July.

mm2 Asia said in July that it was mulling the closure of the cinema chain, as the industry has faced challenges since Covid-19.

Shares of mm2 Asia closed Friday 20 per cent or S$0.001 lower at S$0.004.