Mukta A2 cinemas betting on good content and market down South, will open 20 screens by Dec

Answer: She named herself Mukta Ghai. Subhash Ghai named his company Mukta Arts (Image: Facebook)

Media company Mukta Arts announced its third quarter results for FY19 on Wednesday and reported a consolidated net loss at Rs 2.8 crore against loss of Rs 3.2 crore. The company’s consolidated revenue grew 33.2% year-on-year from Rs 30.5 crore to Rs 40.7 crore.

The two key businesses of the company, exhibition and education, reported strong revenues in the third quarter, the company said.

Talking to Moneycontrol about Mukta A2 Cinemas’ (subsidiary into exhibition business) performance in the third quarter of FY19, Rahul Puri, Managing Director, Mukta Arts, said better box office performance boosted growth in Q3.

“We had a number of films that had run very well in Q3, though Zero and Thugs of Hindostan did not live up to expectations. Andhadhun ran very well, even Baazaar and Badhaai Ho ran exceptionally well so good content is giving a boost to our revenues,” he said.

The company reported better footfall in Q3 FY19 as compared to third quarter in 2018.

In terms of food and beverage business, Puri said the F&B controversy over allowing outside food in cinema halls did not have a large impact on the company. “We moved our pricing in Q2 sort of in-line with some of the government regulations. I think by and large we did not have any negative impact in Q3,” he added.

In FY19, Mukta added two screens in Billai, one screen in Shamshabad, two screens in Suncity and three in Kareemnagar.

“We are likely to open 15-20 screens by December. Hopefully, that should take us up to close to about 80-85 screens overall,” said Puri.

The company’s total count for number of screens stands at 64 screens, including six in Bahrain and 10 under its joint venture with Asian Cinemas.

Mukta A2 Cinemas is betting on the southern market which, according to experts, has been consistent in delivering content. Puri said, “South remains to be an important market not just for Mukta but for the industry as a whole as there is very robust occupancy in the market.”

He added that the company will continue to focus on high-quality properties in the South. “We want to expand to places like Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru,” he said.

As for the reduction in GST on movie tickets, Puri said, “It has a net positive impact but we have to wait for six to eight months to quantify the impact of rate reduction.”

He is also positive for the fourth quarter for the exhibition space. “Next quarter will be a strong. It started well with Uri doing record-breaking business. Gully Boy is out and will also do very well. Then in March, you have got Luka Chuppi and then a big Marvel film, Captain Marvel, followed by Kesari.”

“There is a good strong fleet leading up to the end of financial year and I expect Q4 will follow the momentum that Q3 has set and continue that momentum till the end of financial year,” said Puri.

Mukta’s education business posted a 19 percent growth in revenue for the period under review.