PVR Inox ups income on Hollywood releases

Bengaluru, August 1: International cinema helped India's biggest movie operator PVR Inox post a rise in first-quarter revenue as Hindi films failed to bring moviegoers to theatres. A struggling Bollywood coupled with the popularity of streaming services has made it difficult for traditional theatres to bring in more people.

The company said the June quarter witnessed a muted start, with limited releases in Hindi, but saw the highest number of Hollywood movies since the pandemic. This helped the firm log a more than 30% jump in revenue from operations to `1,304.9 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal. In the year-ago period, the same was about `981.4 crore.

It reported a consolidated net loss of about `81.6 crore for the June quarter. It posted a net profit of `53.4 crore a year ago.

The box office picked up pace in May with the release of movie like the ‘The Kerala Story’, besides ‘Fast X’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ from Hollywood, it added.

India's largest cinema operator -- with 1,702 screens -- has been recently banking on Hollywood's

IT IS HEARTENING to see the success of unconventional movies like ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ in India, clearly indicating that audiences choose the big screen for a unique cinema experience.

‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Barbie’ to pack theatres, the combined advance sales for which were the highest for any film outside the Marvel or ‘Avatar’ series.

“It is heartening to see the blockbuster success of unconventional movies like ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ in India, clearly indicating that audiences choose the big screen for a unique cinema experience," PVR Inox managing director Ajay Bijli said.

The company said it was optimistic for the rest of the year, with improved performance of mid-scale Hindi movies.