Palace Amusement Company Falls Silent As COVID-19 Pandemic Rages

Palace Amusement Company has closed all its cinemas with immediate effect due to Government protocols aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19.

The company operates Palace Multiplex cinema in Montego Bay, Palace Cineplex in Sovereign Centre, Kingston, Carib 5 theatre in Cross Roads, Kingston and Sunshine Palace in Portmore, St Catherine.

The closure also includes the drive-in cinema in New Kingston.

Palace Amusement has seen a drop in revenue since the pandemic.

The company has attributed the falloff to several factors, including its initial four-month closure since March 2020, curfew and Government-imposed restrictions to stem the virus, as well as low attendance rates from moviegoers and the lack of release of blockbuster movies by international companies, which have also been hit hard by the pandemic.

In December, Palace Amusement Limited reported a net loss of $99.6 million for the year ended June 30, 2020, compared to a net profit of $70.3 million in the prior year.

With the entertainment industry hard hit by curfews and crowd restrictions, the cinema operator’s revenues slipped downwards to $919.8 million from $1.11 billion in the comparative year ending June 2019.

Palace Amusement also spent less on direct and administrative expenses during the review period, recording $800 million for direct expenses compared to $900 million in 2019. Administrative expenses for the year ended June 2020 totalled $174.4 million, compared to $186.7 in the comparative.

Loss per share for the year ended came out at $69.48 compared to earnings of $57.36 for the 2019 fiscal year.

Palace closed two locations – Palace Cineplex and Palace Multiplex in September 2020, stating that the impact of the COVID- 19 pandemic and the continued restrictions placed on the entertainment industry were continuing to have a negative effect.

Last month when the latest measures were announced by Government, including the 8:00 pm curfew times, Palace Amusement was forced to close the New Kingston Drive-in cinema for a week as based on the duration of the films scheduled to run at that outlet they would not be able to make the new cut-off times. At that time, Marketing Manager Melanie Graham explained that for the cinemas, which would remain open, everything was being cut to bare bones to facilitate this curfew. This includes the cutting back on the showing of trailers ahead of the start of the movies.