Palace to reprice for 4DX technology
Published:Sunday | January 28, 2024 | 12:11 AMAvia Collinder - Sunday Gleaner Writer
Movie enterprise Palace Amusement Company is getting ready to complete an upgrade that facilitates Art 4DX technology at its Carib Five cineplex in Cross Roads in Kingston
Melanie Graham, marketing manager and director, said the renovations will be done to Cinema Four and allow movie-goers to have a “sensory” experience. The technology, she added, will be introduced over time to other cinemas run by the company.
Graham described the cost of new infrastructure in the 4G upgrade to next generation technology as “very expensive”.
As a consequence of the enhanced experience, Graham noted that seating will be priced “differently”, and expects that the investment will pay for itself “in a short time”.
“We are expecting and hoping it will pay for itself in (a) short time. There are only 100 seats, but the pricing will be different. It will be in place by the end of February,” she stated.
The chairman of the company, Douglas Graham, noted some of the features associated with 4DX technology, saying, it includes “synchronised motion seats and environmental effects such as rain, wind, fog, scent and more”.
Palace Amusement held its annual general meeting on January 23 and Melanie shared that the movie entertainment company has closed on the sale of land at the intersection of South Camp Road and Victoria Street. Funds from that sale will be used to offset debt owed by the company. The sale price was not disclosed.
The company, though, continues to witness improvements in its financial position.
At the end of the first quarter at September 30, 2022, Palace moved from a loss position of approximately $54 million to a profit of almost $23 million in September 2023. And faced with the end of the loan moratorium period in October 2023, the company said that it used payments of $107 million made from deposits held with Victoria Mutual Investments Limited to pay down debt, and is also in the process of selling under-utilised assets, one of which was land adjoining the head office that will further reduce what is owed.
Revenues for Palace in the year ended June 2023 climbed to $1.5 billion, up from $649 million in the previous year.
Operating profit was $47.6 million before taxation, a turnaround from the significant loss of $267.6 million in 2022.
The group at year-end reported positive shareholders’ equity of $581 million, up from $383 million in the previous year.
Management said that the amounts outstanding on the financing provided by bankers, during challenges connected with the COVID-19 pandemic were reduced by the bullet payment of $107 million. The net debt declined from $928 million to $770 million as a result of renegotiations in agreements for leased properties.
Current assets stood in June 2023 at $503 million, versus $407 million in 2022, and current liabilities moved up from $463 million to $673 million, mainly because of the end of the loan moratorium in October.
In the first quarter, revenues at September 30, 2023, were $443.9 million, up from $249.7 million for the similar period in 2022.
Management indicates that the quarter ended with continued improvement over the prior year, with attendance numbers increasing by 38 per cent and almost 50,000 patrons.
It was noted that the company expected that cinema rentals would be expanded from the movie-based events, birthday parties and school trips to “other events like business meetings, brand and media launches and even marriage proposals”.