PVR defers capex plans to control costs amid COVID-19 disruptions

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Multiplex major PVR has deferred its capital expenditure plans in a bid to control costs as the company braces for a significant impact on its profitability in the current fiscal due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Cinema halls in India have remained shut since March this year, after the government imposed nationwide lockdown to check the spread of COVID-19. “We have temporarily deferred a substantial portion of our planned capital expenditures that we were undertaking, prior to the shutdown.

 All major capital expenditures will now be re-assessed once the shutdown is over,” PVR Ltd Chief Operating Officer (CFO) Nitin Sood said in the company’s Annual Report for 2019-20. PVR owns a network of 845 screens across 176 properties in 71 cities in India and Sri Lanka. In 2019-20, PVR added 87 screens to its portfolio.