Battered multiplexes see a better picture ahead

The standoff between multiplex owners and film producers has cost the former heavily. What added to their woes were the general elections and the absence of blockbuster films during April-May.

Though some of the owners had hoped to recoup some of the losses by screening Indian Premier League cricket matches, their efforts did not pay off. As a result, even a big player like Adlabs has posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 63.7 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, compared with a Rs 2.3 crore profit in the corresponding period in the previous year. Its total income also went down sharply to Rs 104.8 crore against Rs 229 crore in the same period last year.

Others such as PVR, Inox, Cinemax, Fame have all posted net loss in the first quarter. These multiplex chains had together posted a net profit of Rs 25 crore in the April to June quarter of last year.

Anil Arjun, Chief Executive Officer of Adlabs, said this quarter has been an aberration and has witnessed the resolution of longstanding issues for the industry. "Despite the absence of Hindi film content, we have achieved over 80 per cent of the revenues of the previous year’s comparable quarter.”

Inox posted a loss of Rs 4 crore for the quarter ended June as against a profit of Rs 3.68-crore a year ago. Revenue from theatrical exhibition and entertainment fell 33.7 per cent to Rs 34.3 crore (Rs 51.8 crore). Fame also registered a loss of Rs 9.5 crore, with revenues down to Rs 16.25crore (Rs 23.9 crore last year). Cinemax reported a loss of Rs 4.6 crore (Rs 3 crore profit) for the June quarter. Income was down 6. 5 per cent to Rs 19.5 crore (Rs 20.9crore), and PVR reported a loss of Rs 10.9 crore for the quarter ended June, against Rs 3.9 crore for the quarter ended June 2008.

Media company UTV Software Communications also reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 23.3 crore for the quarter ended June 30, against a net profit of Rs 9.9 crore in the same period last year. Total revenues declined to Rs 115.4 crore in the latest quarter, against Rs 137.1 crore in the same period in the earlier financial year.

Commenting on the company's performance, its head, Ronnie Screwvala, said: "There was a non-cash loss of Rs 10 crore in the motion picture business. There were no movie releases due to the multiplexes strike and there were no release in games in this quarter."

But many also note that this quarter had no major releases. Deepak Asher, President, Multiplex Association of India, and Director, Inox Leisure, had anticipated slowdown this quarter. "There were two major events going on like the Indian Premier league and the general election.”

He feels the next two quarters will be better, as 40 big budget releases are lined up in the next six months.

Agrees Arjun, "In the month of July itself, the industry has seen a 100 per cent jump in the average monthly box office. The line-up of movies for the remaining year is strong and we expect the performance of July to be maintained through the year."