India’s biggest multiplex operator PVR INOX Ltd. swung to its highest ever quarterly profit as people thronged to theaters to watch a string of Bollywood and Hollywood blockbusters.
The cinema chain, formed earlier this year after a merger between PVR Ltd. and INOX Leisure Ltd., was struggling financially following Covid-19 lockdowns, a sluggish post-pandemic recovery and a spate of Bollywood flops.
Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Masala Banger’ Jawan Lifts Flop-Hit Bollywood
But this quarter saw a turnaround, with the release of some of the best-grossing Hindi flicks of all time, including Jawan — starring Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan — and Gadar 2. That coincided with showings of Hollywood hits Oppenheimer and Barbie.
PVR INOX sold 48.4 million movie tickets in the three months through September, a 64% jump on merged ticket sales a year ago. Quarterly profit was 1.66 billion rupees ($19.9 million), a reversal from a loss of 712 million rupees a year earlier.
Jinesh Joshi, a Mumbai-based analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt., said the “sustainability of these numbers is difficult, but the trajectory is phenomenally good,” adding that “you cannot expect such repetition in every quarter.”
