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[SINGAPORE] Cathay Cineplexes could face its final curtain call after 85 years, as streaming and shifting consumer patterns deal a fatal blow to theatres around the world.

Media company mm2 Asia on Thursday (Jul 17) said that closing the cinema – which it bought in 2017 – is one of several options being explored, in light of financial challenges.

Originally known as Cathay Cinema, Cathay Cineplexes is one of Singapore’s oldest cinema chains; its origins predate the Republic’s independence and World War II.

It opened its doors to the public in October 1939 as Singapore’s first air-conditioned cinema.

After World War II, Cathay launched Singapore’s first drive-in theatre in the 1970s and grew its network of cinemas.

The Business Times traces Cathay’s storied history:

Origins

July 1935: Loke Cheng Kim incorporated Associated Theatres in Singapore. The Penang-born businesswoman had noticed a lack of entertainment establishments in the country. Her husband, Loke Yew, was a Malaysian tycoon who made his fortune in Malaysia and the region through tin mining, real estate and banking.

1936: Their son, prominent film entrepreneur Loke Wan Tho, embarked on the building of Cathay Cinema and the famous Cathay Building. He was a businessman with a keen interest in ornithology and photography.

Oct 3, 1939: Cathay Cinema’s first outlet opened to the public, with the screening of a formerly banned film, The Four Feathers.

The 1,300-seat cinema was located in the landmark Cathay Building at 2 Handy Road. The 16-storey tower was Singapore’s first skyscraper and the tallest building at the time of its completion.

1941: The building was leased to the British colonial government and the Malayan Broadcasting Corporation, and was used to broadcast war updates.

1942-1945: During the Japanese Occupation, it housed the Japanese broadcasting department, military propaganda department and military information bureau.

Post-World War II expansion

1945: The Cathay Building became the headquarters for the Supreme Allied Commander of South-east Asia, Admiral Louis Mountbatten.

February 1949: Associated Theatres regained control of the building after the government vacated it.

1959: Associated Theatres was renamed Cathay Organisation.

1965: Cathay unveiled its second cinema, Orchard Theatre.

Jul 14, 1971: It opened Singapore’s first drive-in cinema in Jurong. The 5.6-hectare site in Yuan Ching Road, next to the Japanese Gardens, could pack 900 cars and 300 patrons in its walk-in gallery. The drive-in shuttered in 1985 due to poor attendance and rising competition from pirated videos.

1991: Cathay Cinema expanded from a single-screen to a multiplex with numerous cinema halls.

1997: The Cathay Cineleisure Orchard mall opened on the former site of the Orchard Theatre.

1998: Cathay Cineplexes was incorporated to manage cinema operations.

1999: Cathay Organisation listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. It was later delisted in 2006.

Jun 30, 2000: The cinema in Cathay Building closed as part of Cathay Organisation’s S$100 million plan to redevelop the building.

Feb 10, 2003: Alongside MacDonald House, Cathay Building was gazetted as a national monument. It was partially demolished, but its art deco facade was preserved.

2006: The Cathay reopened as a cineplex, private residence and mall.

Change in ownership

November 2017: The Cathay Organisation sold its cinema business to mm2 Asia for S$230 million. The entertainment company took over its eight cinemas – comprising 64 screens – and purchased all shares of its cineplex subsidiary.

At the time of the divestment, Choo Meileen was the managing director of Cathay and held 51.15 per cent of its shares. She is the granddaughter of Loke Cheng Kim and the niece of Loke Wan Tho.

March 2021: Reports said that mm2 Asia was mulling a spin-off of its cinema business with a Catalist listing. Battered by shrinking revenue during the pandemic, the segment weighed on the group’s earnings and shares, having clocked a S$16.5 million pre-tax loss in the six months to September in 2020.

Jun 27, 2022: Cathay Cineplexes ceased operations at its iconic The Cathay outlet at 2 Handy Road. Its space became a pop-up outlet for independent cinema operator The Projector from Aug 23, 2022.

The move was part of cost rationalisation for its cinema operations, said mm2 Asia.

Cinema closures and unpaid arrears

Jan 28, 2025: Cathay Cineplexes received letters of demand from landlords of two outlets seeking around S$2.7 million in monies owed.

The landlords of its cinema outlet in Century Square sought payment of S$479,185.74 in rental arrears and other monies by Feb 10.

The landlord of its cinema at Causeway Point demanded payment of S$1.2 million by Feb 10 and for S$1 million to be paid to its trustee, HSBC Institutional Trust Services, by Feb 3, in addition to legal fees.

Both properties are owned by Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT).

Feb 6, 2025: Responding to queries from the Singapore Exchange, mm2 Asia said it had paid back S$12 million owed to landlords, and that the remaining S$2.7 million is a quarter of the total sum owed to the two outlets’ landlords from Apr 1, 2020, to Jan 31, 2025.

The bourse operator had questioned why the owed monies were not yet paid, despite mm2 Asia posting S$10.1 million in cash and cash equivalents for its first-half financials that year.

The group clarified that Cathay Cineplexes was not disputing the payments and added that the S$10.1 million in cash and cash equivalents were not restricted or encumbered, but instead had been partially deployed to its other businesses.

It added that the cinema industry’s slower-than-expected recovery hampered Cathay Cineplexes’ ability to repay arrears in a timely manner and said it was actively engaging the landlords to resolve the matter.

Feb 17, 2025: Mainboard-listed mm2 Asia said Cathay’s outlet at West Mall, owned by Singapore Land Group, would close for reinstatement works on Feb 20 – the same day the lease on its Bukit Batok shopping complex outlet expired.

It added that the cinema chain had been undergoing a post-Covid rightsizing for the past two years.

Mar 27, 2025: The closure of Cathay Cineplexes’ Jem cinema was announced by mm2 Asia as the outlet’s landlord was terminating its lease from that date.

The landlord, Lendlease Global Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit), sought S$4.3 million in monies owed by Cathay Cineplexes. 

May 28, 2025: A S$1.7 million sale – or 21.02 per cent – of its 29.9 per cent stake in its subsidiary Vividthree Holdings was proposed by mm2 Asia. It said proceeds would be used to repay outstanding debt and improve its financial position.

Jul 1, 2025: Cathay Cineplexes received a S$3.4 million payment demand from Lendlease Global Commercial Reit, for arrears related to the cinema chain’s use of the shuttered Jem premises.

It was to pay up the monies by Jul 22, or alternatively, secure or compound the sum to the satisfaction of the Jem outlet landlord by that date.

Jul 4, 2025: A placement of 1.875 billion shares to raise funds was proposed by mm2 Asia.

Full subscription at S$0.008 per share would yield S$14 million in net proceeds. The entertainment company said S$7.5 million would go towards debts and liabilities, and the remainder, for working capital.

Jul 15, 2025: Cathay Cineplexes received statutory demands from FCT, the landlord of its Century Square and Causeway Point outlets, seeking more than S$3.3 million in owed monies. It was to pay up the full amount by Aug 5, 2025, or alternatively, secure or compound the sums to FCT’s reasonable satisfaction.

Jul 16, 2025: The cinema operator proposed extending the repayment deadline of S$54 million in bonds maturing in December by six years, to Dec 31, 2031, to avoid a default.

Jul 17, 2025: To address financial challenges, mm2 Asia said it is considering winding up Cathay Cineplexes among other options. These include continuing talks with landlords to restructure existing obligations under a court-supervised process that allows operations to continue.