Crisil said the Omicron-led third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to impact new film releases and push revenue recovery of multiplexes by three to five months.
The credit rating agency said in a report, “Local lockdowns and temporary closure of multiplexes in major states to prevent the third wave of Kovid-19 infections have forced producers of films to defer new releases and prevent further delays in the production of films. Producers are expected to compel.”
This will push back the full revenue realization of multiplexes to the second half of the next fiscal, in the first quarter we were expecting earlier, it added.
“But once restrictions are lifted, the pace of recovery is expected to accelerate – as seen after the second wave,” it said.
temporary shutdown
Nitesh Jain, Director, Crisil Ratings said, “Temporary shutdown of operations in New Delhi/NCR, Bihar, Haryana and restrictions in other major states like Maharashtra will push back new film releases.”
“Some big-ticket films like ‘RRR’ and ‘Jersey’ have already been postponed indefinitely,” he added.
“Our base case leads to the third wave peaking in February and downward by the end of March,” he said.
“We expect theater releases of big-ticket content to resume in the first quarter of FY2023, which should lead to a rapid recovery in occupancy. However, full recovery is expected only in the second half of the next financial year.
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