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Our Bureau

Chennai, Jan. 13 Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd’s principal promoters, Mr P.S. Saminathan and Mrs Uma Saminathan, announced on Monday that they had sold 18.59 lakh shares. After the off-market transaction, the promoters’ holding in Pyramid Saimira has come down to 17.99 per cent, from 24.03 per cent. The Chairman and Managing director of Pyramid Saimira now hold over 50.86 lakh shares.

On Tuesday, Mr Saminathan, Chairman and Managing Director of the company, said in a letter to the stock exchanges that the promoters had “decided to transfer certain shares and requested financial institutions to sell the same for short-term loans that the company had taken.”

While Mr Saminathan was not available for comment, the impression sought to be given is that the promoters are paying for the loans of the company, so that the lenders are in a position to provide fresh loans.

Pyramid Saimira is mainly in the business of owning cinemas. A couple of years ago, it entered film production. It also entered into businesses related to films and film exhibition.

“The company has always intended to maintain the best of relationships with bankers and did not want any delays or defaults to any bank or institution. We are entering a busy season where many films are being lined up for release. We believe that these (releases) will infuse and unlock huge liquidity to the company,” the letter says.

The letter notes that the company suffered a “huge loss” in the mega-budget film, Kuselan, which affected its liquidity position “from which the company is now properly recovering”. Added to this, an issue with the IT department also affected the liquidity position, the letter says. In the second quarter of the current year, Pyramid Saimira reported a turnover of Rs 252 crore, compared with Rs 144 crore for the corresponding quarter of last year.

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