This year can be the best year movies industry has ever seen: Ajay Bijli, PVR

PVR Ltd has reported Consolidated Revenue, EBITDA and PAT of Rs 579.7 crore, Rs 142.4 crore and Rs 105.5 crore, respectively, for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022, compared to Rs 263.3 crore, Rs 25.1 crore and Rs 289.2 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

After adjusting for the impact of IND-AS 116 - Leases, Consolidated Revenue, EBITDA, and PAT of the company was Rs 553.6 crore, Rs 17.7 crore and Rs 95.6 crore, respectively, as compared to Rs 190.9 crore, Rs 118.2 crore and Rs 271.7 crore for Q4 FY'21.

For the year ended March 31, 2022, Consolidated Revenue, EBITDA and PAT was reported at Rs 1,657.1 crore, Rs 431.9 crore and Rs 488.5 crore, respectively, as compared to Rs 749.4 crore, Rs 134.4 crore and Rs 748.2 crore for last year. After adjusting for the impact of IND-AS 116 - Leases, Consolidated Revenue, EBITDA, and PAT of the company was Rs 1,408.7 crore, Rs 155 crore and Rs 419 crore, respectively, as compared to Rs 310.4 crore, Rs 424 crore and Rs 665.6 crore for FY'21.

Similar to Q3 FY’22, the results of Q4 demonstrated the resilience and the ability of the theatrical business to quickly recover once new content was made available. The short span of the 3rd wave ensured that the rate of infection subsided as drastically as it had peaked. At the onset of the wave, all the states had imposed capacity restrictions on cinema operations. These restrictions were gradually relaxed and were done away with by the end of February. New content releases which had stopped as soon as restrictions were announced started to regularly release from the last week of February. The last 35 days of admissions cross the 90 lakh mark in March. This, coupled with the highest ever quarterly ATP of Rs 242 and SPH of Rs 122, helped achieve 20%+ margins in March.

During the month of March, the company has booked a forex loss on loans extended to PVR Lanka (100% subsidiary of PVR Ltd in Sri Lanka) due to the sudden devaluation of the local currency given the political and economic turmoil in the region. Excluding these losses the company has achieved EBITDA margin of 22.5% for the month of March.

During the quarter the company opened 15 screens across 3 properties and plans to open ~120-125 new screens during FY’23.

The company continues to maintain adequate levels of liquidity with total available liquidity (including undrawn working capital lines) on the balance sheet being in excess of Rs 667 crore as on March 31, 2022.

Commenting on the results and performance, Ajay Bijli, Chairman cum Managing Director, PVR Ltd, said, “Our belief in the ability of the industry to bounce back swiftly was vindicated with this quarter’s results. 90+ lakh admissions in the month of March and a stellar content pipeline for the next few quarters tells us that the best is yet to come. I strongly feel that this year can be the best year this industry has ever seen. We are doubling down on our investments and if everything goes as planned, this year we will break our own record of the maximum number of screens opened in a year in India.”

He further said, “I am extremely positive about the impending merger with INOX, which will give additional firepower to the combined entity to invest and innovate in bringing world class theatrical viewing experience for our discerning audiences.”