India's INOX Leisure loss halves as box office income picks up

PVR INOX

19/10/2022 12:17

BENGALURU, Oct 19 (Reuters) - INOX Leisure Ltd
 INOL.NS , India's No.2 multiplex cinema operator, on Wednesday
said its second-quarter loss more than halved, as box office and
food and beverage revenues inched closer to pre-pandemic levels.
    The company, set to merge with bigger rival PVR Ltd
 PVRL.NS , reported a loss of 403.7 million Indian rupees ($4.9
million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to 876.6
million rupees a year earlier.
    PVR, too, reported a narrower loss for the quarter, although
it missed analysts' expectations.
    Multiplex chains like Inox and PVR have seen some traffic
return to movie halls after almost two years of Covid-led curbs,
with patrons back to spending on theater food and drinks.
    This has helped offset some pressure from a lacklustre slate
of releases with the likes of "Raksha Bandhan" and "Laal Singh
Chaddha" flopping at the box office.
    "The second quarter was impacted by the inconsistency in the
content value chain, proving the importance of great quality
content yet again," Siddharth Jain, Director, INOX Leisure said.
    Still, net box office revenue of 2.09 billion was far higher
than 270 million rupees in the pandemic-hit quarter a year ago,
while food & beverage revenue jumped to 1.10 billion rupees from
150 million rupees.
    Box office revenue was 3.11 billion rupees in the
corresponding pre-pandemic quarter, while food and beverage
revenue was 1.41 billion rupees.
    The jump in box office and food sales helped overall revenue
from operations surge eight-fold to 3.74 billion rupees and
offset a 155.1% jump in total expenses.
    INOX's average ticket price, a key indicator for the
industry, rose to 215 rupees from 178 rupees, while the average
amount spent by each customer hit a record high of 102 rupees.
    Jain said he expect a "spectacular" content pipeline and the
festive fervour to help current-quarter results.
 
 ($1 = 82.9800 Indian rupees)
 (Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane
Venkatraman)
 ((Nandan.Mandayam@thomsonreuters.com; Mobile: +91 9591011727;))