PVR Inox ready with Rs 700-crore plan to set up new screens, retrofit old ones

The new plan comes amid ongoing rationalisation by India’s largest multiplex chain at a number locations where it’s making a loss.

PVR Inox is set for aggressive expansion at a time when the cinema business is regaining its mojo after the long pandemic break, a ToI report quoted Ajay Bijli, MD of PVR Inox, as saying.

“PVR Inox is expected to spend cumulatively close to Rs 700 crore in FY24 for adding new screens and retrofitting existing ones with new tech, formats, ambience, among other features,” he said.

The company expects business to remain strong with Covid ending and smaller towns and cities becoming attractive destinations, Bijli told ToI.

Average ticket prices have now crossed pre-Covid levels for most locations. The company closed FY23 with average ticket price of Rs 236 (for the merged entity) against Rs 204 (PVR standalone) in pre-Covid FY20.

Currently, the company is making plans to expand to a number of tier-2 and -3 cities, including locations such as Rourkela, Bhubaneswar, Dharwad, Cuddalore, Jodhpur, Hubli, and Ajmer.PVR and Inox, two highly popular rival chains in India, merged last year take advantage of their synergies tackle lockdown-related challenges and the rising popularity of Netflix, Amazon, Disney Hotstar and other streaming companies.

PVR Inox announced cumulative numbers for the merged entity last week. It reported a net loss of Rs 334 crore and revenues of Rs 1,143 crore for January-March. The company said it would close down 50 loss-making screens that are now financially unviable or are at the end of lifecycle.

The company currently runs 1,689 screens across 361 cinemas.

Bijli expects the synergies to boost the operating profits of the merged entity in a big way. “We are targeting to deliver Rs 225 crore of annual recurring ebitda synergies over 12-24 months. Currently more than 75% of our screens are in Metros and tier-1 cities. But we are entering new cities every year and will expand footprint in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where multiplexes haven’t been experienced till now,” he told ToI.