Mall development partners offered complete rent waiver for lockdown period for almost 60% cinemas, says Ajay Bijli, CMD, PVR Ltd

PVR Cinemas, which reported consolidated losses of Rs 184 crore for the July to September quarter of fiscal 2020-21, said that the company is in active discussions with mall developers to negotiate lease rentals and common area maintenance (CAM) charges. This was necessary due to the fact that all of PVR’s 831 screens continued to be non operational during the second quarter of the current fiscal i.e Q2 FY'21.

According to a top company executive, the company’s discussions (on lease rentals and CAM charges) with mall developers have been very successful. “We have been in active engagement with all our development partners for discussion on rent and CAM. So far settlements have been reached for almost 60% of cinemas (with mall developers / partners) offering complete rent waiver for lockdown period and significant discounts on rent post reopening,” said Ajay Bijli, chairman and managing director, PVR Ltd during an earnings call earlier today.

The multiplex chain operator also clarified that discounts on lease rentals and CAM charges, post reopening of cinemas, have been offered by mall developers / partners only till March 31, 2021. It is very likely that PVR management will have to engage in fresh discussion to negotiate lease rentals and CAM after taking into account the market situation at the end of this fiscal.     

 

Furthermore, discussions are on with remaining developers and the company management is expecting to close the negotiations successfully once cinemas are allowed to reopen in states that are yet to give it a go ahead. Towards September end, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had issued unlocked 5.0 guidelines allowing cinemas to reopen from October 15, 2020, onward, with 50% capacity. So far 16 states and Union Territories (UTs) where PVR has presence have permitted cinemas to restart operations.

 

“Of the total 831 PVR screens, 575 plus have received permissions to reopen. We are eagerly awaiting now for the reopening of other states specifically Maharashtra and Telangana so that business can gradually get back to normal. We're taking all possible precautions, so that both our customers and employees feel safe while visiting their favorite PVR cinema,” said Bijli.

On the overall liquidity part, the PVR management is quite confident and is using a judicious mix of debt and equity to meet its capital requirement. In fact, as of October 31, 2020, the company has over Rs 550 crore of liquidity available, which is sufficient to sustain its operation and meet all its obligations. 

In terms of strategies adopted by the multiplex chain operator to woo back patrons to its cinemas, the company management has rolled out several celebrity promotions and offers.

Among some of the measures being adopted to get back cinema goes to its properties include, opportunity for private screenings, film festivals and a fresh new menu to enhance the overall movie watching experience. “Many of our patrons have responded positively and we are fully prepared to give them the same immersive movie viewing experience the way we've done before,” said Bijli.

 

Talking about the company's Q2 FY'21 business performance, Bijli said, the cinema industry continued to remain shut throughout Q2 FY21 and the company’s results reflect the same. “PVR had almost nil revenue during the quarter from the core movie exhibition business and almost 100% revenue decline. The company reported losses in the second driven by the continuing fixed costs,” said Bijli.

On the personnel expenses front, the company management continued with manpower rationalisation measures wherein overall headcount was brought down to 6,241 on September 30, 2020 as against 11,073 on March 31, 2020. The company management doesn't intend to ramp up the headcount till the time the occupancy levels come back to pre-COVID levels and will continue to operate the business with the current employee base. PVR Cinemas also implemented temporary salary cuts of between 25% and 50% across the organisation.

During the first half of fiscal 2020-21, the company incurred one time expenses of Rs 8.6 crore on account of full and final settlement for employees who left the organisation.

Consolidated revenues of quarter ended September 30, 2020, declined almost 89% at Rs 111 crore, as against Rs 979 crore during the corresponding period last year. Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) loss for the quarter was Rs 14 crore as against a positive ebitda of Rs 324 crore in Q2 FY'20. Consolidated loss, after tax for the quarter stood at Rs 184 crore as compared to a profit of Rs 48 crores during the corresponding period last year.

“After adjusting for impact of Ind AS 116, leases, revenue ebitda and PAT of the company would have been Rs 44 crore and Rs (81) crore and Rs 116 crore respectively,” said Bijli.

The company continued with a strategy of aggressively controlling costs, as well as augment liquidity. With these efforts PVR was able to reduce its fixed costs by over 70% in Q2 FY'21, as compared to Q2 FY'20 excluding rent and CAM charges. Monthly fixed costs, excluding rent and CAM dropped to Rs 24 crore in the quarter as against Rs 86 crore in Q2 FY'20.

(The writer is a Mumbai-based independent business journalist and has extensively covered diversified consumer businesses over the last two decades. He can be reached at hello@ashishktiwari.com)

Accor's loss could be IHCL's gain: Erstwhile Swissôtel Kolkata likely to become a Taj hotel

This is an EXCLUSIVE story. Do not reproduce or use in any manner whatsoever without the writer's permission.

 

IHCL already has a management contract in place for Ambuja-Neotia Group's luxury resort "Chia Kutir" in Makaibari Tea Estate in Kurseong, Darjeeling. There are strong rumours about a management contract in the works for another luxury resort "Guras Kutir" spread over eight acres at Pangthang in east Sikkim

The Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) and Ambuja-Neotia Group (ANG) are said to be in advanced stages of discussion for a management contract of the erstwhile Swissôtel Kolkata property. Located atop the City Centre Mall in Kolkata’s New Town area, this five-star business hotel was recently vacated by French hospitality major Accor after the completion of its 10-year management contract tenure.

According to multiple industry sources, if talks between IHCL and ANG materialise, the Tata Group’s listed hospitality company will operate this hotel under its Taj brand.

The reason IHCL is likely to bag the management contract, industry sources said, is that it already has an existing association with ANG for a luxury resort “Chia Kutir” at Makaibari Tea Estate in Kurseong, Darjeeling. In fact, ANG had planned another luxury resort spread over eight acres at Pangthang in east Sikkim. Christened Guras Kutir, luxury resort and spa was to be built in three phases comprising boutique cottages, villas and a premium five-star hotel with a casino. There are strong rumours that IHCL and ANG have already or are in the process of finalising a management contract for this property as well. 

When contacted, an IHCL spokesperson did not respond to a query about their discussions for a multi-property management contract including the erstwhile Swissôtel Kolkata. Over a dozen-odd queries emailed earlier to Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and chief executive officer, IHCL, remained unanswered. The hotel company spokesperson chose to comment on just one query about ‘whether IHCL has bagged the management contract for the erstwhile Swissôtel Kolkata property’ saying, “This is incorrect.”

“The discussions for a management contract between the two parties might still be work-in-progress hence, the denial from IHCL,” said one of the industry sources requesting not to be quoted.

Executives from the Ambuja-Neotia Group could not be reached for a comment. Apparently, recent media reports quoted Harshavardhan Neotia, chairman of Ambuja-Neotia Group, saying that they were exploring possibilities including renewing the management contract with Accor or onboarding a new hotel management company for the erstwhile Swissôtel Kolkata property.

Multiple industry sources, familiar with the development, however, said that the Indian Hotels Company and Ambuja-Neotia Group have been in discussions for a multi-property hotel management contract. “The (former Swissôtel Kolkata) property is becoming a Taj hotel,” said another industry source. Validating it further, another top hotel industry executive said, “This is in addition to a few other (management contracts with IHCL for) Ambuja-Neotia Group’s (existing / under development) hotel projects.”

“Post completion of the 10-year contract with Accor, the (Swissôtel Kolkata) property will open as a Taj branded hotel,” said a top executive from a leading consultancy who is familiar with this development.

Sources added that the Kolkata hotel is non-operational owing to the lockdown situation and is currently undergoing renovation/ refurbishment. “This is likely being done to conform with the Taj brand standards,” said one of the sources.

It is understood that since the management contract tenure with Accor was nearing completion, the Ambuja-Neotia Group had sought a brand other than Swissôtel for the Kolkata property. “I believe the asset owners wanted a Sofitel flag but Accor wasn’t open to this idea. This difference of opinion eventually led to the non-renewal of the management contract with Accor,” said one of the sources.

Debuting in the Indian hospitality market back in July 2010, the Swissôtel brand hasn’t been very successful in the country. In fact, the second Swissôtel property, owned by Convention Hotels India Pvt Ltd, in Goa turned out to be the shortest owner-operator alliance. Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, a part of FRHI Hotels & Resorts with brands like Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel, had pulled out of this five-star deluxe resort at Calangute within six months of launching the property in March 2013. In December 2015, this 135-room resort debuted as the Hard Rock Hotel Goa. 

Later in July 2016, Accor acquired FRHI Hotels & Resorts. However, this development didn’t bring any drastic change for the Swissôtel brand in the Indian hospitality market. Another management contract for a 300-rooms five-star boutique property Swissôtel Grand Mumbai was signed with Ashok Mittal’s Litolier Group in April 2012. However, the hotel hasn’t seen the light of the day as yet.

Non-renewal of the 10-year management contract between Accor and the Ambuja-Neotia Group has resulted in the Swissôtel brand being wiped out from the Indian hospitality market. Also, with no newer signings anywhere in sight, it is going to be a tough road ahead for the Swissôtel brand to make inroads in the country all over again.

(The writer is a Mumbai-based independent business journalist and has extensively covered diversified consumer businesses over the last two decades. He can be reached at hello@ashishktiwari.com)