Multiplex operator Inox Leisure Monday reported a consolidated net profit at Rs 48.08 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, and announced a capital expenditure of Rs 300 crore for 2019-20.
The company had posted a profit of Rs 57.69 crore in the same period a year ago.
Inox Leisure said the profit numbers are not comparable as it includes one-time write-back of taxes. The adjusted profit is Rs 44 crore for the last quarter of FY2018-19 compared to Rs 4 crore in the same quarter in the previous fiscal.
"There was a one time non-recurring tax write back in the last financial year," Inox Leisure chief executive officer Alok Tandon told PTI.
Total income stood at Rs 484.09 crore, up 46.76 per cent from Rs 329.85 crore in the year-ago quarter.
Total expenses during the quarter under review were at Rs 410.93 crore, up 32.29 per cent, as against Rs 310.61 crore reported in the last quarter of 2017-18.
During the quarter it registered 1.8 crore footfall, which is 42 per cent up from last quarter which was 1.26 crore.
Ad revenue during the quarter under review was at Rs 43 crore against Rs 33 crore in the same quarter last year.
"It is the eighth consecutive quarter where our advertising revenue and the rate of growth have increased and it is the momentum which we would like to continue and have," he said.
For the entire 2018-19, Inox Leisure posted a profit of Rs 133.49 crore, as against Rs 114.63 crore in the previous year, including the tax write back.
The adjusted profit after tax for the year doubled to Rs 129 crore as against Rs 61 crore in the previous financial year.
Its total income was at Rs 1,707.1 crore as compared to Rs 1,362.58 crore in 2017-18.
Advertising revenue during the year has gone up from Rs 136 crore in 2017-18 to around Rs 175 crore in 2018-19.
The footfalls for the year has gone up from 5.3 crore to 6.3 crore, a growth of almost 17-18 per cent.
The company noted that good content with brilliant performances are driving the footfalls as box office collection from top five movies three years ago was in range of 37-40 per cent and now it is 25-27 per cent.
The company has a pipeline of 850 screens opening in future.
"What we have done last year is the highest number of organic screen expansion in the history of Indian cinema. We opened 85 screens last year across 17 properties, which I think is a record," Tandon said.
The number of screens opened in FY2018-19 translates into 40 per cent of the total screens opened by the industry during the year.
In FY2018-19 it had a capex of Rs 270 crore and for FY2019-20 it plans to have another Rs 300 crore, he said.
"Our endeavour is to open 80 screens this financial year. We have already opened nine screens with two properties this year," he said adding that the company's focus is on growing organically.
The company operates 583 screens across 141 multiplexes in 19 states and 67 cities.
Occupancies have improved from 26 per cent to 28 per cent of the year.
The average ticket price has improved from Rs 193 to Rs 197, which also factors in the reduction of GST which was passed on to consumers.
Online contribution to sales has been 49 per cent, while spend per head has gone up from Rs 66 to Rs 74. In FY2018-19, food and beverage contributed 25.8 per cent to sales.
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