PVR INOX Limited today announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2024.
During the quarter, the company recorded 30.4 mn admissions with an ATP of INR 235 and SPH of INR 134 as compared to 33.9 mn admissions with an ATP of INR 246 and SPH of INR 130 in the same period last year.
The quarter began on a soft note, with April and May getting impacted due to the general elections, which were the second longest in India's history at 44 days. This prompted many producers to postpone film releases, resulting in a 13% drop in the number of releases in the quarter as compared to the first quarter of last year. The number of blockbusters also declined sharply this quarter, with only three films crossing the 100 crore mark compared to seven last year. Last year's writer and actor strikes impacted Hollywood releases, but we expect a significant improvement in the Hollywood lineup in the second half of FY'25. June was the strongest month of the quarter, with both small and big-budget movies doing well. 'Munjya', a horror comedy flick, grossed more than 110 crores. 'Chandu Champion', a biopic on India's first paralympic gold medalist, Murlikant Petkar, grossed 75+ crores. On June 27th, 'Kalki' became the biggest movie of the year, contributing nearly 16% to the quarterly box office in just four days and grossing over 1000 crores globally to date. This indicates that the audience's appetite for good-quality content is intact, irrespective of the size and star cast of the movie.
In the upcoming months, several big Hindi movies are set for release, including 'Bad Newz' starring Tripti Dimri and Vicky Kaushal, 'Stree 2' starring Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkumar Rao, 'Vedaa' starring John Abraham, 'Auron Main Kahan Dum Tha ' starring Ajay Devgan & Tabu, 'Emergency' starring Kangana Ranaut, 'The Buckingham Murder' starring Kareena Kapoor, 'Deva' starring Shahid Kapoor, 'Jigra' starring Alia Bhatt, 'Bhool Bhulaiya 3' starring Kartik Aryan, 'Singham Again' starring Ajay Devgan, 'Dhadak 2' starring Tripti Dimri , 'Sitare Zameen Par' starring Aamir Khan and 'Baby John' starring Varun Dhawan' among others.
Expected to be a mega blockbuster, 'Pushpa 2,' a major multilingual film starring Allu Arjun, will release in December. Other notable regional releases include 'Raayan' starring Dhanush, 'Double ISmart' starring Sanjay Dutt and Ram Pothineni, 'The Goat' starring Vijay Thalapathy, 'Lucky Bhaskar' starring Dulquer Salman, 'Barroz' starring Mohan Lal, 'Devara' starring NTR Junior, 'Vettaiyan' starring Rajnikanth and Amitabh Bacchan, 'Kanguva' starring Suriya, and 'Thandel' starring Naga Chaitanya, among others.
Hollywood's 'Deadpool & Wolverine,' releasing this weekend, is anticipated to be the biggest global movie of 2024, with strong advance bookings. Other significant releases include M. Night Shyamalan's 'Trap,' 'Alien: Romulus,' 'Borderlands,' 'Speak No Evil,' 'Transformers One,' 'Wolfs,' 'Never Let Go,' 'Joker 2,' 'Smile 2,' 'Venom: the Last Dance,' 'Gladiator 2,' 'Red One,' 'Lord of the Rings: the War of Rohirrim,' 'Kraven the Hunter,' and 'Mufasa: the Lion King.
On the growth front, during the quarter, the company opened 50 new screens and closed 14 underperforming screens, resulting in a net addition of 36 screens. Currently, our screen portfolio includes 1,754 screens in 361 cinemas across 113 cities in India and Sri Lanka.
Commenting on the results and performance, Mr. Ajay Bijli, Managing Director, PVR INOX Ltd., said, "With Kalki's continued success and a promising lineup ahead across languages, Q2 has begun on a positive note. There are no significant events expected in the near future to disrupt the release schedule. Additionally, Hollywood is expected to bounceback, as the effects of the writer and actor strikes are beginning to diminish. We anticipate a significantly improved performance in the remaining three quarters of the current fiscal year."
