PVR Inox

** Multiplex operator PVR INOX PVRL.NS falls about 2.5% amid broader market weakness

** Ambit (maintains "Buy", PT: 1,341 rupees) says 55% of new screen additions are asset-light, supporting capital efficiency, higher returns

** Raises EBITDA estimates for FY27-FY29 by 15%-16%, citing stronger ad revenue, improved profitability

** UBS (keeps "Buy", PT: 1,350 rupees) says operating trends improving with revenue growth; rising occupancy expected at 25%-26% for FY27-28

** Investec (maintains "Buy", PT: 1,440 rupees) expects PAT growth from higher earnings, lower costs; stronger ad income in H2FY27, supported by larger titles' release

** PVRL rated "buy" on average by 15 analysts, median PT at 1,320 rupees - LSEG-compiled data

** PVRL posted Q4 profit vs year-ago's net loss; revenue from ops rose 25.8% y/y, led by higher per-customer spending

($1 = 95.3000 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

BENGALURU, May 11 (Reuters) - Diary of India economic, corporate events on May 11

ECONOMIC, CORPORATE .BSE500 EVENTS:

NTS - 'No time scheduled'

(Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom)

(([email protected]))

** PVR INOX PVRL.NS shares rise 5.3% to 1,073 rupees, set for their best session since early January

** Brokerage Ambit Capital raises rating to "buy" from "sell" and TP to 1,232 rupees, a 21% upside to stock's last close

** Says newer capex models should limit PVR Inox's FY27–30 capex to 20% of post-rent EBITDA versus 100% in FY24–25, enabling 10% FCF CAGR in FY26–30 without equity dilution risk

** Brokerage believes this level is sustainable because mall owners have limited alternative cinema-exhibition partners to fall back on

** Expects occupancy levels to stay about 26% for the next decade

** Says slowing OTT funding has halved direct OTT releases and expects PVR Inox to benefit from these funding constraints, as platforms increasingly license films only after box-office performance, easing content pressure and occupancy volatility

** YTD, PVRL up 4.4%

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

By Munsif Vengattil

BENGALURU, April 4 (Reuters) - Welcome to the new-look movie set, where the quiet hum of a coding floor has replaced the cacophony of cameras, clapperboards and shouted directions.

The Collective Artists Network, a top talent agency for Bollywood A-listers, has long brokered the careers of real-life superstars. Now, it’s engineering digital ones. In its Bengaluru premises, filmmakers use artificial intelligence tools to create content based on Hindu mythology – a popular genre in India. One movie, based on the religious text “Ramayana,” has a scene showing the god Hanuman flying while carrying a mountain. A show based on a separate ancient epic, “Mahabharat,” features a sequence depicting the princess Gandhari, who blindfolded herself upon marrying a blind king.

India produces the most movies of any country, and stars such as Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan command cult-like followings. But shifting audience habits, including the rise of streaming, are squeezing production budgets, many industry players say. The number of moviegoers fell to 832 million in 2025 from 1.03 billion in 2019, according to consulting firm Ormax Media. While box-office sales hit a record $1.4 billion last year, revenue has been choppy since the pandemic and reliant on a handful of hits and pricier tickets.

(To view the story on Reuters.com, go to https://www.reuters.com/technology/ai-is-rewiring-worlds-most-prolific-film-industry-2026-04-04/)

Studios in India are responding by deploying AI at a scale unseen elsewhere: creating full-fledged AI-generated films; using AI dubbing to release movies in numerous languages; and recutting endings of older titles to eke out additional sales. In the process, they are reshaping the economics of filmmaking, compressing production timelines, and pitting AI-driven efficiency against a recurring problem: Audiences have often reviewed AI content harshly, even when it sells.

“AI is slashing production costs to one-fifth of what they used to be for traditional filmmaking in genres such as mythology and fantasy,” said Rahul Regulapati, who heads Collective’s AI studio, known as Galleri5. And production time? “Down to a quarter,” he said.

The approach differs from Hollywood, where union contracts and fears of job displacement have constrained studios’ use of the technology. In India, at least one major production house is reviewing its entire library for AI re-releases, and Google GOOGL.O, Microsoft MSFT.O and Nvidia NVDA.O have made early bets by partnering with local filmmakers.

Previous reporting has explored how Indian filmmakers are harnessing AI, and India’s divergence with Hollywood. But Reuters is detailing for the first time the extent to which India’s film industry is reorganizing itself around AI and the economics driving the shift. Reuters visited two AI studios and tested moviemaking tools, attended film festivals and interviewed 25 people for this story, including directors, studio heads, industry executives and startup figures.

American and British studios have experimented with AI filmmaking – producing the first full-length AI animated features in 2024 and an AI-powered immersive version of “The Wizard of Oz” last year.

But the ambitions of India’s filmmakers are on a different level, said Dominic Lees, a film and AI researcher at Britain’s University of Reading. “If they can deliver, then the shift in AI filmmaking will be to India,” he said.

The pivot to AI reflects India’s embrace of the technology broadly. Last year, Reuters detailed India’s wager that leaning in to AI will create enough opportunities to offset shorter-term disruption. AI could boost Indian media and entertainment firms’ revenue by 10% and reduce costs by 15% over the medium term, according to analysis by consulting firm EY.

Vikram Malhotra, founder of Abundantia Entertainment, told Reuters the Bollywood production house, which recently announced investment in an $11 million AI studio, is building its AI capability from scratch and expects content generated or assisted by AI to account for one-third of its revenue within three years.

NEW ENDINGS FOR OLD DRAMAS

Last year, India’s Eros Media World re-released a 2013 hit, “Raanjhanaa,” with an AI-altered twist. It replaced a tragic ending, in which the protagonist died, with a happier finale where he opens his eyes to the surprise of his lover, who smiles through tears.

The rewrite drew backlash. Dhanush, the lead actor, who goes by one name professionally, said on X that the AI remake had “stripped the film of its very soul” and set a “deeply concerning precedent for both art and artists.”

Still, the re-release of “Raanjhanaa” drew audiences. India’s largest cinema chain, PVR Inox PVRL.NS, told Reuters that 35% of available tickets to the Tamil-language version of the movie were sold during its release month, August. That was 12 percentage points higher than the average in 2025.

Now, Eros is going further: Pradeep Dwivedi, its group CEO, told Reuters the studio is reviewing its 3,000-title catalog “to identify candidates for AI-assisted adaptation.” The group’s Indian unit, Eros International, last year warned of “competition from digital platforms” as its consolidated annual revenue from operations fell 44%.

“It’s both a revenue opportunity and a creative renewal strategy,” Dwivedi said of the plans for AI rewrites.

In Hollywood, such alterations would face barriers. Under an agreement with U.S. actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, studios cannot digitally alter an actor’s performance or create a digital replica without the performer’s informed consent. The Directors Guild of America contract bars studios from using AI for creative decisions without consulting the director and prevents AI from doing the work of its members.

Indian studios, by contrast, are pushing into aggressive experiments using AI, including in Hindu mythological tales – big business in a country with millions of devout followers. Collective is planning eight AI-generated titles focused on deities such as Hanuman, Krishna, Durga and Kali.

JioStar, a media joint venture between billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance RELI.NS and Walt Disney DIS.N, has been airing an AI-generated adaptation of the ancient Hindu epic “Mahabharat” – the first episodic series to emerge from Collective's cinematic AI lab.

The AI rendition of the tale about a dynastic war between princes has recorded at least 26.5 million views since its October release on JioStar’s streaming platform, the company told Reuters. An earlier TV adaptation drew 200 million viewers between 1988 and 1990.

The show has faced a rocky reception with audiences, however. “Mahabharat” holds a rating of 1.4 out of 10 on IMDb, with some reviewers criticizing lip-sync issues and others saying some sequences felt low-quality or lacked authenticity due to unnatural styling.

Alok Jain, a senior executive at JioStar, told Reuters the response “has been a mix of appreciation and healthy debate, which is natural for any ambitious creative leap.” He said JioStar is exploring making original stories in AI format.

Some industry figures lament the rise of AI in filmmaking. Jonathan Taplin, an American writer and producer who has worked with Hollywood studios, said the use of AI to create entire feature films is “an affront to the whole history of cinema.”

“It will fill your cinemas and screens with formula slop,” he said.

DUBBING WITH AI

Dubbing may offer a smoother path to acceptance of AI in film.

India’s 22 official languages and hundreds of dialects split the country into micro-markets, making dubbing essential for any movie to become a national blockbuster. Audiences have long griped about mismatched lip movement – a problem AI is beginning to address.

During a Reuters visit to NeuralGarage, an AI startup in Bengaluru that provides dubbing for top studios like Yash Raj Films, co-founder Subhabrata Debnath demonstrated a clip of an AI-generated character speaking in English. He then superimposed a German audio track, and within minutes the character was speaking fluent German, lips and jaw in sync.

Debnath said the technology preserves “the performance, identity and the speaking style of the person” while altering the face enough to make the dubbing look natural.

NeuralGarage’s AI technology was used last year to dub Yash Raj’s Hindi movie “War 2” into the Telugu language of south India. The production house didn’t respond to Reuters questions.

TECH MAJORS MEET THE RED CARPET

Global tech majors also want a piece of the action.

Google partnered with Bollywood director Shakun Batra in August to produce a five-part cinematic series using its Veo 3 video-generation and Flow AI tools to experiment with AI-powered filmmaking. Mira Lane, Google’s vice president of technology and society, told Reuters that AI could also allow independent artists to create complex sequences that “might otherwise be out of reach due to budget or logistical constraints.”

Collective has been working with Microsoft, which told Reuters it is providing AI computing power to help “shape the next wave of global storytelling” through such collaborations.

To bypass the limitations of standard text prompts, Collective uses a hybrid of physical recording and digital animation. Actors wear sensor-equipped motion-capture suits to record body movements as 3D data, while smartphones capture facial expressions. This data is fed into the AI pipeline, allowing for nuanced control over the AI-generated characters.

The ripples are reaching beyond the studio. Globally, festivals dedicated to screening AI-generated shorts have proliferated in cities including Los Angeles, Cannes, and Barcelona. India’s first took place in November at Mumbai’s Royal Opera House, where young storytellers walked the red carpet alongside a dancing robot.

And in February, Nvidia shared the stage with aspiring AI filmmakers at the second edition of India’s AI film fest in New Delhi. Pradeep Gupta, a global vice president of Nvidia, told the audience the company is working to slash computing costs so that anyone can “create something substantial without putting a lot of money” into production.

Anurag Kashyap, a Bollywood director, told Reuters he is concerned about the growth of AI in filmmaking in India and the lack of guardrails around its use. But he grudgingly conceded the economic case for studios to deploy the technology.

“In India, cinema isn’t about art. It’s purely business, so studios are going to use it to make mythologicals,” Kashyap said of AI. “Our audience is a sucker for it.”

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru and Mumbai. Additional reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Sunil Kataria. Editing by Aditya Kalra and David Crawshaw.)

(([email protected];))

March 20 (Reuters) - PVR INOX Ltd PVRL.NS:

• PVR INOX LTD - OPENS 4-SCREEN MULTIPLEX AT ANJANA CENTRAL, AGRA

Source text: ID:nNSE31s3bT

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];))

Feb 20 (Reuters) - PVR INOX Ltd PVRL.NS:

• OPENS 7-SCREEN MULTIPLEX IN HUBBALLI, KARNATAKA

Source text: ID:nNSE4FJjJy

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];;))

Feb 5 (Reuters) - India's largest multiplex operator PVR Inox PVRL.NS posted a nearly three-fold jump in quarterly profit on Thursday as a robust lineup of film releases and tax cuts boosted footfall.

Bollywood blockbuster "Dhurandhar" made a record 10 billion Indian rupees ($110 million) in overall sales, PVR Inox said, helping a 13% year-on-year growth in gross box office collections. Movies like "Avatar: Fire and Ash" also helped collections.

High footfalls are poised to continue until March 2026, supported by the government's consumption tax cut, Executive Director Sanjeev Bijli told Reuters in October.

The sector is emerging from a years-long slump in attendance due to weak urban spending, an uneven slate of blockbusters and growing competition from streaming platforms such as Netflix NFLX.O and Amazon's AMZN.O Prime.

To win audiences back, PVR Inox has been showing popular films like "Silsila" and "Jab We Met" and is offering discounted tickets on Tuesdays starting at around $1.

The cinema operator is also converting some movie halls into destinations for dining, gaming and co-working, to further drive footfalls.

PVR Inox's consolidated profit rose to 957 million rupees ($10.6 million) in the quarter ended December 31, from 359 million rupees a year ago.

The firm took a one-time charge of 446 million rupees related to India's new labour laws.

Footfall increased 8.6% year-on-year in the quarter, while occupancy improved by 277 basis points. Average ticket prices and food and beverage spends per head climbed by about 4% each.

($1 = 90.2200 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected]; +91 9558725583;))

Jan 26 (Reuters) - PVR INOX Ltd PVRL.NS:

• PVR INOX LTD - APPROVES SALE OF 93.27% STAKE IN ZEA MAIZE PRIVATE LIMITED TO MARICO LIMITED

• PVR INOX LTD - DEAL FOR 2.27 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE4Xrlq2

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];))

Jan 23 (Reuters) - PVR INOX Ltd PVRL.NS:

• OPENS 9-SCREEN MULTIPLEX IN HYDERABAD

Source text: ID:nNSE5wJhS5

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];))

Oct 17 (Reuters) - PVR INOX PVRL.NS:

• Q2 CONSOL NET PROFIT 1.06 BILLION RUPEES; IBES PROFIT EST. 600.3 MILLION RUPEES

• Q2 CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 18.23 BILLION RUPEES; IBES EST. 18.16 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];))

** Shares of multiplex operator PVR Inox Ltd PVRL.NS rise nearly 2% to 1,109 rupees

** Shares set to snap a three-day losing streak, if current trend holds

** Co launches luxury dine-in cinema in Bengaluru

** Brokerage CLSA says festive season to allay concerns over multiplexes, sees PVRL occupancy rebuilding in near term

** PVRL stock rated "buy" on avg by analysts; median PT at 1,300 rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, PVRL stock down ~15% vs Nifty 500's .NIFTY500 3.4% rise

(Reporting by Komal Salecha)

(([email protected];))

** Shares of PVR Inox Ltd PVRL.NS climb 4.5% to 1,082 rupees, their highest since February 10

** India's largest multiplex operator reported a narrower Q1 loss on Wednesday as Hollywood hit 'F1: The Movie' drew more audiences

** Investec upgrades PVRL to "hold" and raises PT to 1,147 rupees from 996 rupees, citing improved earnings visibility on the back of a "solid content pipeline"

** Adds, PVRL's cost structure is aligned to the new reality of disruption from streaming services; raises FY26-27 earnings estimates by 8%-12%

** Analysts tracking stock rate it "buy" on average; median PT is 1,250 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** Stock's YTD loss narrows to ~17%

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; Mobile: +91 9591011727;))

Updates with details from executive interview in paragraphs 7-9

By Hritam Mukherjee

Aug 6 (Reuters) - India's PVR Inox PVRL.NS reported a sharply narrower quarterly loss on Wednesday as a strong box office slate, including Hollywood hit 'F1: The Movie', drew more audiences to theatres and boosted ticket and food sales.

India's largest multiplex operator, formed through the merger of PVR and Inox, reported a consolidated loss of 540 million rupees ($6.2 million) in the April-June quarter, compared with a loss of 1.79 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts, on an average, had expected a loss of 659.1 million rupees.

Footfalls in cinema halls have been pressured by weak urban consumption, an uneven slate of film releases and growing competition from streaming platforms.

To bring audiences back, PVR has been offering discounted weekday tickets and relaunching older movie hits.

These measures, along with the strong box office performance of Bollywood and Hollywood films such as 'Sitaare Zameen Par' and 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning' helped lift quarterly footfalls by 12% on-year.

Average ticket prices rose 8% to 254 rupees, while per head spending on food and beverages increased 10% to a record 148 rupees. Executive Director Sanjeev Bijli told Reuters he expects spending in these segments to grow at a similar pace in the coming quarters.

"I do see a visibility of great films all the way down to December, the end of third-quarter, and that's what's going to drive consumption for admissions, ticket prices, advertisement revenues and also F&B spends," Bijli said.

He added that the company's new cinema halls will experiment with gaming centers, co-working spaces and cafeterias inside the premises to "enhance the stickiness of the consumer".

Revenue from operations rose 23% to 14.69 billion rupees for the quarter, topping analysts' estimate of 14.24 billion rupees.

The results come amid growing signs of recovery in urban consumption. Consumer goods firms such as Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS and Britannia BRIT.NS are signalling improving urban demand after several quarters of sluggish growth.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

(([email protected]; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))

** Shares of PVR Inox PVRL.NS down 1.2% to 987 rupees

** Karnataka state government proposes to cap movie ticket prices across the state at 200 rupees ($2.33), inclusive of entertainment tax, news agency ANI reports

** Stock rated "buy" on avg, median PT at 1,250 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** The state government's media team did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment

** YTD, stock down 25%

($1 = 85.7375 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +918447554364;))

May 12 (Reuters) - PVR Inox PVRL.NS, India's largest multiplex chain, reported a wider quarterly loss on Monday, as a lacklustre line-up of new film releases and muted urban spending dampened audience turnout.

The company, formed by the merger of PVR and Inox labels, reported an adjusted consolidated loss of 1.06 billion rupees ($12.48 million) in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of 901 million rupees a year ago.

PVR blamed an "uneven release calendar" in fiscal 2025 for the performance, with March flagged as a particularly weak month. This lull in content contributed to the overall decline in admissions and revenue.

Among major Hindi-language titles during the quarter, only historical action film "Chhaava" delivered a strong box office showing.

The subdued demand comes amid ongoing pressure on urban consumption, driven by sluggish wage growth and a high cost of living, even as inflation continues to moderate.

Amid an increase of 10.5% year-on-year in the average ticket price, per-head spending on food and beverages dropped 3.5%, dragging revenue from the food and beverages' segment down 7.8%.

To revive audience turnout, PVR Inox has rolled out weekday discounts and re-released older films. Still, quarterly occupancy fell by 208 basis points to 20.5%, while total admissions declined 6.3% to 30.5 million.

PVR Inox's overall revenue declined marginally to 12.50 billion rupees.

($1 = 84.9050 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

(([email protected];))

** Indian multiplex operator PVR Inox PVRL.NS jumps 4.3% to 940 rupees, on track to log best day since mid-August

** Brokerage Nuvama says February 2025 has been the highest-grossing February post-pandemic for the Bollywood film industry with box-office collections of 12.45 bln rupees (~$144 mln)

** Adds, promoters have slightly increased their stake by 0.03%, which is small but sends a positive signal to minority investors, especially after previous rounds of stake sales and pledged shares

** Says box-office collections in January-February jumped 39% y/y to 22.64 bln rupees, led by the release of "Chhaava" movie

** 19 analysts covering the stock on avg have a "buy" rating; median PT is 1,600 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** Day's gains trim monthly fall, stock now down 0.3% in March

($1 = 86.7140 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +918447554364;))

** Indian multiplex operator PVR Inox PVRL.NS gains as much as 2.9% to 980.35 rupees

** Kotak Institutional Equities says PVRL stock's recent correction is overdone; upgrades stock to "buy"

** PRVL stock fell 17% in February, logging its fifth straight monthly loss

** Brokerage says recent correction in stock due to continued weakness in box office collections, expects Hollywood releases to drive collections in FY26

** Even as the overall content cycle in multiplex chains remains depressed, PVRL's cost optimisation and expansion strategies are noteworthy - Kotak

** Brokerage cuts fair value to 1,200 rupees from 1,300 rupees to factor in delays in bollywood recovery

** PRVL stock up 5.4% so far this week; on track to log biggest weekly gain since early November, if current trend holds

** Stock rated "buy" on avg, median PT at 1,655 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +918447554364;))

Feb 6 (Reuters) - PVR INOX Ltd PVRL.NS:

• Q3 CONSOL NET PROFIT 359 MILLION RUPEES

• Q3 CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 17.17 BILLION RUPEES

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];))

** Multiplex operator PVR Inox PVRL.NS ends 1.4% lower at 1,161 rupees

** PVRL has now shed 12% in five-session losing run

** Yes Securities says the correction was due to fear of HMPV outbreak and is "overdone"

** Says current stock price is "attractive"; retains "buy" call and TP 1,980 rupees

** Analysts on avg rate PVRL "buy", median TP 1825 rupees -LSEG data

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

Oct 15 (Reuters) - India's largest multiplex chain PVR Inox PVRL.NS reported its third straight quarterly loss on Tuesday, as a ho-hum Bollywood lineup and rising demand for streaming services kept movie-watchers at home.

That hurt box-office collections and food and beverage sales at PVR Inox's outlets.

The company, formed by the merger of PVR and Inox labels, posted a consolidated net loss of 118 million rupees ($1.40 million) in the quarter ending Sept. 30 versus a year-ago profit of 1.66 billion rupees.

Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 137.7 million rupees, data compiled by LSEG showed.

India's movie halls have been struggling to fill seats in recent quarters as consumers have curbed discretionary spending amid higher inflation, forcing multiplexes to introduce lower-priced weekday movie passes and cut popcorn prices.

The lack of compelling new movie releases has also added to their agony, making many multiplex chains resort to playing classics to win audiences.

In India, popular streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar is the market leader with 38 million users, while estimates showed Netflix NFLX.O has around 10 million.

PVR Inox's total revenue fell 19% to 16.22 billion rupees in the September quarter, with movie ticket sales dropping 25% and food and beverage sales 18% lower.

The occupancy rate fell to 25% from 32.3% in the year-ago period.

PVR Inox said it expects to add 110-120 screens in the year ending March 2025. So far this fiscal year, it has added 71 and closed 42 screens.

($1 = 84.0675 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

(([email protected];))

Oct 2 (Reuters) - PVR INOX Ltd PVRL.NS:

• PVR INOX LTD - OPENING OF 5 SCREEN MULTIPLEX AT COIMBATORE

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];))

** Multiplex operator PVR INOX PVRL.NS rises as much as 3% to 1,704.15 rupees, the highest since Jan. 4

** Anand Rathi Research retains "buy", raises PT from 1,750 rupees to 2,065 rupees, a 24.8% premium to last close

** Expects sequential improvement from Q2 and a good Q3 backed by several blockbusters

** About 10% of the new screens added in FY25 and 20-25% in FY26 would be in the form of management-fee and revenue-sharing models

** Mean rating of 20 brokerages is "buy"; their median PT is 1,754 rupees - LSEG

** PVRL gains 2.3% YTD

(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

July 19 (Reuters) - PVR INOX Ltd PVRL.NS:

• JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL NET LOSS 1.79 BILLION RUPEES

• JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 11.91 BILLION RUPEES

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];))

BENGALURU, May 14 (Reuters) - India's largest multiplex operator PVR Inox PVRL.NS reported a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss on Tuesday, hurt by a lack of interest in Bollywood releases.

The company reported a consolidated net loss of 1.3 billion rupees ($15.6 million) for the March quarter, missing analysts' estimate of a loss of 835.9 million rupees, as per LSEG data.

The company was formed by a merger of PVR and Inox in February 2023, and the results are not comparable year-over-year.

PVR Inox had posted a profit of 128 million rupees last quarter.

The quarter ended March 2024 marks PVR Inox's weakest quarter in the year, the company said.

The company flagged "significant volatility" in box office collections, with demand muted despite major Bollywood releases like "Fighter", "Shaitaan" and "Article 370".

It also added that the ongoing general election has impacted the flow of new releases, and that expects it to stabilize by mid-June.

Its occupancy slipped to 22.6% from 25.2% in the December quarter.

Coupled with these factors, it saw a 2% drop in average ticket price, prompting a near 19% sequential drop in revenue.

During the year, the company opened 130 new screens and closed 85 screens. The company said plans to shut down underperforming cinemas to reduce costs.

It also said it would pursue box office initiatives like screening alternate events like film festivals and sports, and was evaluating monetising real estate assets in a bid to become net debt free over the next few years.

PVR Inox's shares, which were up 1% ahead of results, dropped 2.3% post results.

($1 = 83.5106 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)

(([email protected];))

** Unexciting big-screen content during fourth quarter signals persisting gloom for India's PVR Inox PVRL.NS, says brokerage Investec

** Jan-March period revenue will be the lowest quarterly rev for multiplex operator in FY24; audience behaviour unlikely to dramatically alter unless content is consistently compelling - Investec

** Says net screen additions in FY25 and FY26 to be likely lower than its previous estimates

** PVRL posted a loss and a drop in profit in two of the last three quarters of FY24

** Investec cuts PT from 1,797 rupees to 1,438 rupees, downgrades stock to "sell" from "hold"

** Co rated "buy" on average with median PT of 1,900 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock closes flat; dropped over 16% YTD after a near-4% slip in 2023

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

April 2 (Reuters) - PVR INOX Ltd PVRL.NS:

• PVR INOX LTD - GOT ORDER DEMANDING DUTY OF 170.6 MILLION RUPEES

• PVR INOX LTD - CO REVIEWING ORDER, WOULD TAKE LEGAL RECOURSE TO CHALLENGE ORDER

Source text for Eikon: [ID:]

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];))

March 1 (Reuters) - PVR INOX Ltd PVRL.NS:

• OPENING OF 14 SCREEN MEGAPLEX AT PHOENIX MALL, PATNA

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];))

** Shares of PVR Inox Ltd PVRL.NS fall as much as 3.1% to 1,416.6 rupees, their lowest since mid-July

** India's largest multiplex operator reports 92% q/q dip in Q3 profit

** Revenue down 22% q/q due to lower movie launches during Oct-Dec qtr and ICC Men's Cricket World Cup

** Co says results not comparable with last year

** Over 1.3 mln shares traded, 1.7x the 30-day avg volume

** Twenty-two analysts covering PVRL rate it "buy" on avg; median PT is 2,037.5 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock trims some losses, last down 1%

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; Mobile: +91 9591011727;))

Jan 19 (Reuters) - PVR INOX Ltd PVRL.NS:

• GOT GST ORDER WITH DEMAND, INTEREST, PENALTY OF 225.3 MILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE97Cxzf

Further company coverage: PVRL.NS

(([email protected];))

** Shares of India's largest multiplex operator PVR Inox PVRL.NS fall 3% to 1,599.70 rupees

** Brokerage Investec Equities says co likely to see subdued Q3 on weaker-than-expected performance of films such as "Animal" and "Salaar" and fewer blockbuster Hollywood films

** Trims EBITDA estimate for FY24E by 9.3% and profit after tax estimate by 71.7%

** Brokerage expects co to end FY24 with an average occupancy rate of 26% at its movie theatres, below earlier estimate of 28%

** Downgrades stock to "hold" from "buy" and reduces PT to 1,797 rupees, sightly higher than current stock price

** Stock set to decline for third straight session

** PVRL fell 3.6% in 2023

(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru)

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