Post lockdown blues: PVR posts Q3 loss of ₹49 cr

Multiplex chain PVR Ltd posted a net loss of ₹49 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, against a net profit of ₹36 crore in the previous-year period. With cinemas re-opening in only a staggered manner, PVR’s Q3 consolidated total income dropped to ₹320 crore (₹924 crore).

The company said the Q3 results are not comparable in a year-on-year basis as staggered re-opening and limited content availability post re-opening had significantly impacted business operations. The company said except Rajasthan and Jharkhand, all the States where it has a presence have now allowed cinemas to re-open.

Ajay Bijli, the company’s CMD, said: “After two quarters of successive lockdown, we are delighted to have welcomed back our patrons to our cinemas. Consequent to being deprived of the most affordable and engrossing form of entertainment, we believe our audiences’ desire to revisit cinemas is strong and there is significant pent-up demand that will help our business recover.”

“The South Indian film industry had led the way in terms of release of blockbuster content and the initial performance of Tamil movie

Master indicates that the customers are ready to revisit their favourite cinemas if high quality content is available. We are now hopeful that the Bollywood industry will derive comfort from this strong performance and start releasing high quality content in the near future,” he added.

During the quarter, the company said, it was able to reach settlements with landlords for 88 per cent of its cinemas for complete or partial waiver or discounts for the lockdown period for rental and common area maintenance (CAM).

“These negotiations helped the company in reduction in rental and CAM expenses by ₹444 crore as compared to the nine-month period ending December 31, 2019, representing a reduction of 80 per cent. Further, the company successfully negotiated discounts/rebates in the form of revenue share/reduction in minimum guarantee post re-opening generally until March 31, 2021,” PVR said in a statement. The company said discussions on rentals and CAM charges are also on with other landlords.

PVR said it is also continuing with a aggressive cost management strategy which has resulted in fixed cost reductions of 63 per cent compared to the third quarter of previous fiscal and has also shored up liquidity using a mix of debt and equity.

 

Shares of PVR ended 2.68% at ₹ 1,473.40 on the BSE.