Inox, PVR stocks surge, BookMyShow heaves a sigh of relief as cinemas are set to reopen from October 15

• On October 1, INOX and PVR stocks jumped by 12% in morning trade. Though they pared some gains, both stocks still hold over 6% gains as of 2.30 pm.
• Indian government’s Unlock 5.0 mandates for theatres and halls to reopen with 50% capacity from October 15.
• But not just theatre chains, even the ticketing platforms like BookMyShow too heaved a sigh of relief.

After being shut for over six months, cinema halls across the country can finally look alive again as Indian government’s Unlock 5.0 mandates for theatres and movie halls to reopen with 50% capacity from October 15.

But that 50% capacity was a piece of welcome news for listed theatre chains. On October 1, INOX and PVR stocks jumped by 12% in morning trade. Though they pared some gains, they were still trading higher by 6.3% and 8.35% respectively as of 2.30 pm.


Both Inox and PVR bore the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic. For the first three months of the current financial year, INOX reported a loss of ₹73.64 crore, while revenues fell by almost 100%. Meanwhile, PVR had posted losses to the tune of ₹226 crore.

According to the Central government’s latest guidelines:

• Cinemas/ theatres/ multiplexes will be permitted to open with upto 50% of their seating capacity, SOP will be issued by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
• Business to Business (B2B) Exhibitions will be permitted to open, for which SOP will be issued by the Department of Commerce.

But not just theatre chains, even the ticketing platforms like BookMyShow heaved a sigh of relief. In May, BookMyShow had furloughed over 270 employees as it began to deal with the pandemic.

“This move will bring immense relief to scores of employees across the sector which has been one of the worst hit, through this pandemic. As the category leader, BookMyShow recognises that we are in extraordinary times and is mindful of social distancing and sanitisation amongst other factors. The health and safety of all - from cine-goers to cinema partners, production houses and execution agencies - will be of paramount importance and BookMyShow will uphold all SOPs as mandated for our users’ safe movie watching experience,” said Ashish Saksena, COO – Cinemas, BookMyShow.

With the upcoming festive season, Saksena added that he is confident that films and audiences will return to the big screen.

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