PVR revenue up 39% in Q4FY16

Cinema exhibition chain PVR reported consolidated revenue of Rs 419 crore for quarter ended March 31, up 39% compared with Rs 301.5 crore last year. Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was Rs 52.9 crore, against Rs 12.7 crore in the same period last year, up 317%.

Footfalls increased by 26% to 15.3 million in Q4FY16 against the same period last year, while average ticket prices rose by 9% as against the same period last year. Food and beverages revenue showed a stellar growth of 50% over the corresponding quarter of previous year, driven by an increase in average spend per person of 18%. A 19% growth in Sponsorship revenues reflected strong continuing positive performance year-on-year.

The company has delivered a strong financial and operational performance in the quarter on account of successful performance of films like Airlift, Neerja and Kapoor & Sons.

Nitin Sood, CFO, PVR, said: “Last year, Q4 was a slow period because of the World Cup. This year, the momentum in people to go to the movies has sustained from the previous quarter. Add to that, the content that has been released, and we have very good box office revenues for the quarter.”

The consolidated revenue for FY 2015-16 was Rs 1,897 crore, compared with Rs 1,486 in FY 2014-15, up 28%. Consolidated EBITDA for FY 2015-16 was Rs 358.2 crore (EBITDA margin 18.9%), against Rs 209.7 crore (EBITDA margin 14.1%) in the previous year, up 71%. Consolidated PAT for FY 2015-16 was Rs 119.3 crore, against Rs 11.6 crore in FY 2014-15.

“On a same store level, the ATP has gone up around 6%, while footfalls have increased by 11% on an annual basis. In case of sponsorship revenues, the bigger centres have seen increase in revenues because of hike in inventory rates. Beyond these centres, growth has come from addition of new commercial partners too,” says Sood.

He adds that the current and coming quarters show promise because the movie going trend is likely to continue, backed by a steady content pipeline. He believes Q1FY17 will be as good as Q1FY16 given the run of movies like The Jungle Book and some regional films. “In fact, for the year gone by, almost 40-45% of box office revenues came from Hollywood and regional movies,” he says.

Sanjeev Kumar, joint managing director, PVR, said: “We were able to leverage the strong box office across a growing cinema network. This has been a landmark year for us as we became the first multiplex chain in India to cross the landmark of 500 screens. We see the momentum of performance continuing in FY 2016-17 on the back of strong content pipeline and consumer demand.”

During the year, PVR added 52 screens across Bokaro, Vadodara, Kolhapur, Chennai, Bangalore, Pathankot and Noida. PVR currently operates a network of 524 screens spread over 114 properties in 47 cities across the country. The company continues its aggressive expansion plans and intends to add approximately 60-65 screens, including eight screens in Lucknow and Panvel which have already opened in the current financial year.