PVR INOX returns to profitability, banks on strong movie lineup in 2025

Country’s largest multiplex chain PVR Inox returned to profitability with a bang as on Thursday it reported a 180 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit for the third quarter of financial year 2025 (Q3FY25), helped by a clutch of festival releases including ‘Pushpa 2’ which alone brought in 36 per cent of box office collections during the period.

 

PVR Inox reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 35.9 crore in Q3FY25, against a net profit of Rs 12.8 crore in the same period last year. It had posted a net loss of Rs 11.8 crore in the previous quarter.

 

“‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ was a major driver (for Q3FY25 revenue),” Sanjeev Bijli, executive director, PVR INOX, told Business Standard.

 

“It has made Rs 1,450 crores (in the Indian box office) and therefore the contribution of Pushpa 2: The Rule has been the highest for this quarter,” he said.

 

The Bandreddi Sukumar-directed film contributed Rs 254 crore to PVR INOX’s Hindi box office and about Rs 63 crore to Rs 67 crore in other languages to the company’s overall revenue, said Saurabh Pant, vice president, finance and investor relations, PVR INOX.

 

However, the company said in a statement that despite these successes, overall momentum of Q3FY25 was impacted by the rescheduling of key films like Aamir Khan’s ‘Sitare Zameen Par’ and Vicky Kaushal’s ‘Chhaava’ among others.

 

The multiplex giant’s revenue from operations rose by 11 per cent to Rs 1717.3 crore against the same quarter last year.

 

Apart from this, the company also reported its highest quarterly advertising income post-Covid of Rs 148.6 crore in the third quarter, along with the highest average ticket price (ATP) of Rs 259. It also observed its highest quarterly food and beverage spend per head (SPH) of Rs 14o.

 

The company has also reduced its net debt by Rs 434.6 crore to Rs 995.8 crore as of December 2024.

 

“To achieve this, the management made a decision to cut back on capital expenditure. As a result, we shifted to a new growth model, focusing on expanding through FOCO (franchise-owned, company-operated) and asset lite models,” said Pant.

 

Currently, the company has signed 31 screens and eight cinemas under a management contract with a complete capex drive by the developer. Under the asset lite model, it has signed 69 screens and 14 cinemas till now with 40 to 80 per cent capex driven by the developer.

 

Additionally, in the next two months, PVR INOX will shut five more underperforming screens, Bijli said. The company will also add another 12 food courts, which is a collaboration with Devyani International by the end of FY26.

 

In terms of select movies that can drive PVR INOX’s revenue, Bijli notes ‘Chhaava’ to be a major driver.

 

“I think this quarter, ‘Chhaava’ is going to be a big one, which comes out on February 14 along with Captain America: Brave New World. Then we have The Diplomat with John Abraham and ‘Shankara’ with Akshay Kumar coming in March. Salman Khan’s ‘Sikandar’ will be a highly anticipated movie by the end of March,” Bijli added.