Inox Leisure, PVR stocks shine on hopes of theatres reopening soon

• Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), domestic mutual funds are raising their stake in multiplex firms like Inox Leisure, PVR on hopes of theatres reopening soon.
• Investors cheered this development as shares of both multiplex stocks gained on July 27.
• Analysts expect the multiplex industry to gradually recover in the second half of FY22.

Multiplex chains, which are among the worst hit by the pandemic have finally found some hope as theatres are reopening as COVID-19-induced restrictions are being relaxed.

Reports said that Maharashtra government may announce more relaxations in the pandemic-related curbs, this week, imposed during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the state.

Moreover, the Delhi government on July 24 announced a slew of unlocking measures and allowed the cinema halls and theatres, and multiplexes to function with 50% capacity.

Shares of Inox Leisure and PVR gained 6% and 1.3% respectively on July 27 at 12:51 p.m.

Foreign portfolio investor (FPI) holdings in Inox Leisure have reportedly gone up by 8.09% year-on-year to 16.44% as of April-June 2021 from 9.53% in the same quarter last year. Also, mutual funds’ holdings also went up to 23.09% from 19.72% during the same period.

Also, a report by Indian Express suggested that Amazon.com India is in talks with several domestic players in film and media distribution including Inox Leisure for a potential stake. It may be looking to expand its content streaming platform Prime Video.

Reacting to the report, Inox Leisure released a statement on exchanges saying there are no discussions taking place with Amazon, nor were there any such discussions in the past. It stated the news report was factually incorrect.


A report by Sharekhan Research expects gradual recovery in this space while it said multiplex business is going to be a sustainable model in the long term.

“Expect gradual recovery over the next 2-3 quarters as COVID vaccination is catching pace… We believe the multiplex business is going to be a sustainable model in the long term given Indian movie-goers’ strong appetite for the silver screen… We continue to remain positive on the stock, given a net debt-free balance sheet and potential for healthy earnings growth over FY21-FY23,” said a report on Inox Leisure published on April 29.


Meanwhile, a report by Maybank Kim Eng Securities on PVR dated June 3 said it sees a threat from over the top (OTT) platforms witnessing direct release on their platforms. It hopes big movies will release on box office and not on OTT.

“We factored in 67 million footfalls in FY22 estimates, as we expect a weak recovery in footfalls even during second half of FY22 which is contingent upon the government’s vaccination drive and reaching herd immunity, strong content pipeline -- key movies such as ‘Sooryavanshi’, ‘Lal Singh Chaddha’ and ‘83’ release on box-office and not on OTT,” said the report.

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