PVR Inox Q1 Results: Net Loss Of Rs 81 Crore, Revenue Up By 32 Per Cent YoY

The company logged an increase of 11 per cent in the total number of people visiting cinema halls during the reported period, on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis.

Multiplex chain PVR Inox reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 81.6 crore for the June quarter in the current financial year (FY24) against a net profit of Rs 53.4 crore in the first quarter (Q1) of the previous fiscal year (FY23) on Tuesday. 

It posted a revenue of Rs. 1,304.9 crores for the current quarter against its Q1 revenue of Rs. 981.4 crores for FY23, reported PTI. The total income for the company stood at Rs 1,329.8 crore and total expenses at Rs 1,437.7 crore, for the reported quarter. The company logged an increase of 11 per cent in the total number of people visiting cinema halls during the reported period, on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis.

Relating the results to the recent merger, the company said in its exchange filing, “As the appointed date for the PVR INOX merger was January 1st, 2023; Q4FY’23 & Q1FY’24 results for the company are reported on a merged basis for PVR and INOX and are not comparable with Q1 FY’23.”

 The admissions for Q1FY24 stood at 33.9 million, against 30.5 million admissions for Q4FY23. Ticket sales also increased by 15 per cent on a QoQ basis, while food and beverages sales increased by 22 per cent sequentially. The company reported an average ticket price of Rs 246 and the average amount spent on food and beverages at Rs 130, both for the quarter ended June 2023. 

Elaborating on the performance, the release added, “The quarter witnessed a muted start in April, with limited movie releases in Hindi. The box office picked up pace in the month of May with the release of, ‘The Kerala Story’ which turned out to be the biggest release of this quarter along with other superhits like ‘Fast X’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ from Hollywood, and ‘2018’ from Malayalam.” 

It further noted, “Other movies that delivered reasonable performances were ‘Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse’, ‘The Flash’, and ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ from Hollywood. Regional movies like ‘Carry on Jatta 3’ in Punjabi and ‘Baipan Bhari Deva’ in Marathi, which were released towards the end of the quarter, have achieved remarkable record-breaking success.”

Commenting on the performance of Hollywood movies in the Indian market, the company said, “Q1 FY'24 saw the release of the highest number of Hollywood movies post-pandemic, which, combined with a robust performance at the Box Office, led to an impressive growth of 70% in quarter-on-quarter box office collections for Hollywood films. The recent success of Hollywood blockbusters like ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1’ and ‘Barbie’ reaffirms our belief that audience’s enthusiasm for theatrical movie going remains intact when there is compelling content.”

While the company closed 14 screens across 4 cinemas citing underperformance, it also opened 31 new screens in 5 cinemas, during the quarter. Currently, PVR Inox stands at 1,707 screens across 361 cinemas in 114 cities in India and Sri Lanka, as per the company release. 

PVR Inox’s managing director, Ajay Bijli, remarked on the performance of Hindi films and said, “Notably, the Hindi Box office has shown a gradual reduction in QoQ volatility, accompanied by improved performance of mid-scale Hindi movies, indicating a growing appetite for fresh Hindi content among the audiences. We strongly believe that as we progress through the rest of the year, we will witness a rising trend of Box Office across all genres.”