PVR-Inox focus on penetrating further in South India markets

PVR-Inox which declared its results for the first time as a merged entity on Monday post market hours, reported 34 percent higher revenues owing to a low base effect, wherein Q4-FY22 was affected by the Omicron variant of Covid. The combined entity’s occupancy declined 290 bps year on year to 22.2 percent versus 25.1 percent in Q4-FY22. Admits for the combined entity improved 21 percent year on year to 30.5 million, while the average ticket price and spends per head improved 3 percent and 12 percent year on year respectively. Consequently, the company reported a loss of Rs 333 crore.

In an interaction with CNBC-TV18 on Tuesday, Ajay Bijli and Nitin Sood said the occupancy rates are being affected due to volatility in content consumption trends. The multiplex behemoth is expected to add 180 new screens in FY24. The operator also said 168 screens were added in FY23 between PVR (97 screens) and INOX (71 screens), while 79 screens were added in Q4-FY23 between PVR (53 screens) and INOX (26 screens).