Fame Cinemas expects 15% growth for FY10

Exhibiting a renewed confidence after the stand-off between multiplex owners and producers, Fame Cinemas is expecting a growth rate of around 10-15 per cent for the financial year ended 2009-10. Having launched a multiplex in Vadodara, its 24th across the country, the movie exhibition company is preparing to launch atleast five more properties by the fiscal end.  
 
Talking about future plans, Rishi Negi, chief operating officer, Fame India, said: "We are looking at leveraging our movie exhibition further.  While the first quarter of the current fiscal had seen a downfall due to multiplex owners versus producers stand-off, the subsequent quarters will see a rise in occupancy and footfalls as compared to similar quarters of last year.  We expect a growth of 10-15 per cent by the end of this financial year."
 
For the newly launched multiplex in Vadodara, Negi expects an occupancy rate of 35-40 per cent from day one.  Apart from Vadodara, Fame Cinemas owns properties in Bharuch, Anand and Surat with overall 16 screens in Gujarat.
 
According to Negi, typically, the company invests between Rs 70,000 and Rs 1 lakh per seat for its multiplex.  After Vadodara, Fame Cinemas will be launching multiplexes in Bangalore, Chennai, Vizag, Chandigarh and Pune.  
 
Across the country, Fame Cinemas manages around 90 screens and plans to hit the 100 screens mark soon.