India’s PVR Inox swings to second quarter profit as hits like ‘Saiyaara’ boost footfall

India’s largest multiplex operator PVR Inox swung to a profit in the second quarter as a robust lineup of film releases boosted theatre attendance, reversing a loss from a year ago.

Consolidated profit came in at 1.06 billion rupees ($12.05 million) in the July to September quarter. Last year, it reported a loss of 121 million rupees.

PVR Inox and its smaller peers typically face volatile earnings because blockbuster releases are uneven through the year and competition from streamers like Netflix and Amazon Prime remains stiff.

Still, the first half of the fiscal year was “one of the most remarkable periods in recent times,” the company said, with 12 films in the second quarter alone topping 1 billion rupees in box office sales.

Bollywood blockbusters like “Saiyaara” and “Mahavatar Narsimha”, made more than 4 billion and 3 billion rupees respectively in sales, PVR said, driving a 21% year on year growth in gross box office collections.

Hollywood movies like “Jurassic World: Rebirth” and “The Conjuring: Last Rites” also helped, the company, which is experimenting with converting the movie hall into a one-stop shop for dining, gaming and co-working, to further drive consumer footfalls, said.

Ticket sales in the second quarter increased by nearly 15% year-on-year, while occupancy improved by 302 basis points.

However, food and beverage spends per head declined marginally by 1.4% year-on-year, in a sign of still-muted urban demand for convenience food.