Palace eyes mid-April for reopening of cinemas

Cinema operator Palace Amusement Company is eyeing mid-April for the reopening of its cinemas, after tightened gathering restrictions and curfew hours forced the closure of the last three operating cinemas earlier this month.

Palace has been shuttering its movie houses since last September, when it advised of the closure of Palace Cineplex in Montego Bay and Palace Multiplex in Liguanea, Kingston, in an attempt to minimise overhead costs as business slowed under the pandemic.

The better revenue earners – Carib Cinema in Cross Roads, Kingston, and Sunshine Palace in St Catherine – remained open. And they were joined by the newly developed New Kingston Drive-In Cinema. But all three closed this month amid new restrictions on movement as COVID-19 cases spike.

In a notice to shareholders posted on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Palace said it had permission to continue operating the drive-in cinema, but indicated that it wouldn’t be practical, given the curfew.

“We have permission to operate the drive-in after 6 p.m., but with the longer days the start time of the movies had to be pushed back, and with the 8 p.m. curfew, we cannot operate. As previously advised, Palace Cineplex and Palace Multiplex remain closed,” the company said.

Palace Amusement films, which run on average two hours, are usually screened at 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m. at its drive-in cinema in New Kingston. But with the sun still out at 6 p.m. these days, start times at the outdoor venue were pushed back to 7 p.m.

“That’s impossible with an 8 p.m. curfew,” Marketing Manager and director of Palace Amusement Melanie Graham told the Financial Gleaner.

Palace, like other businesses, is hopeful that as more and more persons are vaccinated, COVID infections will trend down and the restrictions on people’s movement and gatherings will be lifted.

The company is looking ahead to April to get back into the market.

“ Godzilla will be released later this month, but we are not sure what COVID measures will look like during the Easter break; and so we will be waiting until after the holidays to show our movies,” said Graham.

“We are not yet certain as to which theatres we will open first, but hope that decision becomes clearer as time passes,” she said.

She added that while the company contemplates its reopening, discussions are still ongoing with its bankers for another round of cash to keep the business going.

Palace’s first approached the banks in July 2020, when the company got assistance with its fixed costs amid a fall-off in revenue. But as its cinemas closed, its finances worsened.

For the half-year through to December 2020, Palace posted a net loss of $176 million compared to a narrow $149,000 of profit for the similar period in 2019, while revenue slumped to $67 million or one-tenth the $670 million of sales made in the comparative 2019 period.

The cinema operator’s cash holdings have been totally erased from $60 million and were $4 million in deficit at the end of December.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com