Wanda Revenue Drops As Company Offloads Assets

Dalian Wanda Group Co. Ltd. saw its revenue decline for a third year as the Chinese conglomerate continues to offload domestic and overseas assets amid a government crackdown on corporate debt and overseas acquisitions.

The group posted revenue of 214.3 billion yuan ($31.7 billion) in 2018, falling 5.7% year-on-year, Wanda said in a statement (link in Chinese) over the weekend. It was the group’s third consecutive annual revenue drop.

Wanda is among a group of former Chinese highfliers now paying for their recent global acquisition sprees. It started to offload assets in mid 2017 after Beijing launched a wide-ranging campaign to lighten heavy corporate and government debt loads.

The company’s turbocharged spending spree included a number of global theater chain operators, as well as its $3.5 billion purchase of Legendary Entertainment LLC in 2016.

The group’s latest asset offload came in October, when it announced the sale of Wanda Cultural Management Co. Ltd., the management arm of its former theme-park division to Sunac China Holdings Ltd. for 6.28 billion yuan.

Early last year, the company announced it would sell a 7.8 billion yuan stake in its Shenzhen-listed film unit to e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and the state-backed Cultural Investment Holdings Ltd.

Wanda has also reportedly been looking to sell its stake in U.S.-based AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., its main cinema operating company.

In its Saturday statement, Wanda said its total assets dropped 11.5% to 626 billion yuan. The statement claimed that the company had achieved its targets and tasks in all sectors set by its billionaire chairman Wang Jianlin, who is one of China’s richest men.

Revenue of Dalian Wanda Commercial Management, the company’s major real estate business, rose 25.9% to 37.7 billion yuan. Wanda Cultural Industry Group’s revenue was up 9.2% to 69.2 billion yuan.

Contact reporter Mo Yelin (yelinmo@caixin.com)