PVR Inox Shares Drop Following Internal Probe into Alleged Kickbacks

Shares of PVR Inox, India's biggest film exhibitor, sharply crashed over 8% on Monday after ET reported that the company asked a senior executive to leave in April following an internal investigation into alleged kickbacks worth up to Rs 200 crore from developers involved in building cinema properties.

Pramod Arora, who was the chief executive officer for growth and investment at the company, along with a few others, was asked to leave with immediate effect in April after the alleged probe found irregularities, people familiar with the matter told The Economic Times. PVR Inox shares crashed to a more than one-month low of Rs 1,126.60 apiece on NSE on Monday morning.

PVR Inox’s probe sought to establish the extent of the alleged wrongdoing and determine whether others were involved, said the people familiar with the matter, who added that the company's board discussed the matter in recent meetings.

The senior executive allegedly involved in the case was close to the company's promoters, raising questions about how long the alleged payments continued and whether others were aware of the malpractices, sources told ET Bureau. This could raise concerns over possible scrutiny on PVR Inox co-promoters Ajay and Sanjeev Bijli, who have been running the company since the merger of PVR and INOX became effective in February 2023.

PVR Inox did not respond to questions sent by ET till the time the report was published on Saturday. WhatsApp messages sent to Pramod Arora were not answered until the report's publication. ET could not independently establish the identities of the developers allegedly involved in the kickbacks scandal.

Meanwhile, PVR Inox last week announced a tender-offer buyback at Rs 1,450 apiece, with the total consideration not exceeding Rs 300 crore. Promoters and promoter group members intend to participate, and Friday was the record date.

“The announcement is a notable capital-return milestone,” said JM Financial as it raised its earnings estimates for the company and increased its target price to Rs 1,270 apiece while maintaining the ‘Add’ rating. The latest target price implies around 3.5% upside potential from the stock’s previous closing price of Rs 1227.2 apiece on NSE.

PVR Inox shares have fallen around 4% in a week but gained 15% in 2026 so far and 2% in one year. In the longer term, the shares of the company have delivered negative returns of 37% in three years and 14% in five years.

The company in July reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 56.5 crore for June quarter FY27 as against a loss of Rs 47.3 crore a year ago. Revenue from operations was Rs 1,622.2 crore in June quarter FY27 as against Rs 1,449.6 crore a year ago.