PVR to invest Rs 350 crore in opening 100 new screens

27 Sep 2022 , 08:52 AM

According to a top executive on Monday, the movie theatre chain PVR Cinemas would spend up to Rs350 crore to build 100 new screens in FY23. The mega-merger with Inox Leisure is also anticipated to be completed by February 2023, following which the merged company would begin to operate, according to PVR’s chief executive Gautam Dutta, who spoke with PTI on the phone.

He cited the business’ success from the April to June quarter, claiming that customers are returning to the theatres to enjoy the movie-going experience and that increased food and beverage sales have given the firm increased optimism about growth.

“In FY23, we’ll spend up to Rs350 crore opening 100 theatres. In the ensuing two to three years, I anticipate a similar tendency to continue “Dutta emphasized that the geographic distribution of the expansion will be balanced.

The remainder of the additional screens would be in locations where the firm has less of a presence, with about 60% of them being in older areas, he noted. He listed several places where the company plans to grow, including Rourkela, Dehradun, Vapi, Chennai, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, and Ahmedabad.

He stated that some debt and cash balances from internal accruals will be used to support the initiatives, noting that the company had a sustainable debt position of Rs1,450 crore at the end of June.

Before the pandemic, which caused movie theatres to close nationwide and put exhibitors under hardship, PVR opened up to 90 screens annually, spending around Rs 3crore each screen, according to Dutta. However, as a result of inflation, the cost has now increased to Rs3.5 crore per screen.

He said that the business would be concentrating on completing the merger with Inox and is not currently looking at any options for inorganic development. The head of the biggest movie theatre chain in the nation claimed that the discussion is over as evidenced by their recent performance when questioned about the danger posed by OTT competitors like Netflix or Amazon Prime.

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