PVR reports net loss of ₹71.23 crore in Q2, attributes it to Bollywood, Hollywood flops

• Admissions and ticket prices of PVR were affected by the weak performance of Bollywood and Hollywood movies, company claims.
• Box office collections of Hollywood movies for PVR too dropped by 47% in Q2 FY23.
• The box office contribution of regional movies for PVR increased to 44% in the second quarter.

Dull performance of Bollywood and Hollywood movies has pushed multiplex chain operator PVR into the red as it reported a net loss of ₹71.23 crore for the second quarter. However, its losses narrowed down by half as compared to the net loss of ₹152.39 crore it posted in the same quarter last year, where lockdowns were still prevalent.

Revenue from operations went up five times to ₹686 crore for this July-September quarter from ₹120 crore in the second quarter of last year.

“Admissions and average ticket price during the quarter were impacted by the weak performance of Bollywood and Hollywood movies,” said the company in a statement to exchanges.

Content is key, not star presence, says PVR
PVR attributed the losses to the continued underperformance of Bollywood movies.

“With the exception of Brahmastra Part One: Shiva, most of the other big budget Bollywood movies performed below expectations like Laal Singh Chaddha, Raksha Bandhan, Liger,” said PVR.

PVR said that movies are no longer getting viewers attention just because of star presence, as content has become key.

“The underperformance of Hindi films could be attributed to a variety of factors like films conceived before and during the pandemic not resonating well with the current consumer tastes, quality of content driving performance as compared to star presence and negative social media against certain Bollywood movies and stars,” said the company.

Even for Hollywood, this was a weak quarter in almost two decades both in terms of the number of movies released and their box office collections.

Box office collections for Hollywood movies for PVR dropped by 47% in Q2 FY23 as compared to Q2 FY20.

Regional movie industry remains outlier
Regional industry is the outlier as these movies continued their robust performance.

“For PVR, the box office contribution of regional movies increased from 28% in Q2 FY20 to 44% in Q2 FY23. Movies like Sita Ramam, Kartikeya 2, Thiruchitrambalam, Rocketry and Vikrant Rona performed well during the quarter ended September 2022.

PVR has opened 14 screens across three cinemas in the last quarter and is ramping up its plan to open a total 110-125 new screens by the end of current fiscal year.

"We remain focused on driving admissions back to our cinemas. I am confident of full recovery in the business driven by the robust content lineup for this year and the various initiatives that we are implementing to rekindle the cinema going habit amongst our loyal patrons,” said Ajay Bijli, chairman and MD, PVR.

The company expects the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) process for the merger of PVR with INOX Leisure to complete within the next 3-4 months.

Upcoming movies in the next 3 months

Bollywood movies	Hollywood movies	Regional movies
Ram Setu	Black Adam	Shaakuntalam
Cirkus	Black Panther: Wakanda Forever	Vaathi
Thank God	Avatar: The Way of Water	Kushi
Drishyam 2		Honeymoon
Bhediya		Padavettu
Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ka Jaan

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