PVR's net profit up 93 pc in Q1

Bangalore, July 31 (UNI) Film exhibitors PVR Cinemas posted a 62 per cent surge in revenues during the first quarter of the current fiscal, while its net profit saw a 93 per cent jump on an year-on-year basis.

The revenues, net of entertainment, sales and service taxes, for the quarter rose to Rs 42.89 crore and the profit after tax to Rs 3.33 crore, up from Rs 1.73 crore during the corresponding period last year, a company release here said today.

PVR Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Bijli said that during the quarter, the company had commenced operations at four new multiplex projects in Juhu and Mulund in Mumbai, Indore and Lucknow, adding 17 new screens and taking the screen count to 68 in the first quarter. Besides, it had also added two more screens in Gurgaon.

''We are happy with the revenue growth of 19 per cent quarter on quarter and new cinemas contributing a growth of 43 per cent. We entertained about 3.66 million customers during the quarter as against 2.17 million during the corresponding period last year,'' he said.

PVR, which had presence in Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, had signed MoUs and agreements with various developers for setting up new multiplex projects across the country. As many as 50 multiplex screens were under construction and operations would start in the next 12 months.

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