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Hefty box office collection of more than Rs 1,000 crore due to blockbuster movies - Baahubali 2 and Tubelight - is expected to boost financials of multiplex companies in June quarter of FY18 but the same performance is unlikely in second quarter.
'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion' gave a big bang start to Q1FY18 with the blockbuster reporting overall domestic box office collection of Rs 1,326 crore. However, the much hyped (expected to collect Rs 200 crore plus) Salman Khan flick, Tubelight came croppers and ended with around Rs 100 crore box office collections.
Movies like Sachin A Billion Dream and Hindi Medium performed moderately. Among Hollywood movies, The Fate Of The Furious 8 did well in Q1FY18 while Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2, Pirates Of The Caribbean-5 and Wonder Woman failed to make a mark.
Edelweiss reiterated that huge scale and screen additions place PVR and Inox Leisure in a sweet spot to capture higher share of box office pie.
"We estimate 18 percent YoY advertising growth for PVR, aided by good expected performance of Tubelight, Baahubali 2 and Sachin A Billion Dream in Q1FY18," Edelweiss said.
It expects the multiplex industry to continue to report decent growth in Q1FY18 on higher share of net box office collections led by addition of screens in past 12 months (PVR opened 8 screens in Q1FY18); and pick up in Hollywood films.
However, the line up in Q2FY18 is moderate along with strong base, which means the Q1 like box office collection may be unlikely in September quarter.
In Q2FY18, stars spangled movies like Toilet: EK Prem Katha (Akshay Kumar), Jagga Jasoos (Ranbir Kapoor), Munna Michael (Tiger Shroff) and Jab Harry Met Sejal (Shah Rukh Khan) are anticipated to do well. Further, a strong line up of English movies (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Dunkirk and War for the Planet of the Apes) may also aid box office collection in Q2FY18, Edelweiss said.
Pertinently, the base is strong with Q2FY17 seeing releases like Pink, Mohenjo Daro, Rustom, Dishoom and Sultan.
Recent key developments in the sector
1> 28 percent GST rate (above Rs 100 average ticket price) is neutral for industry. However, some benefits due to input credit set off will lead to EBITDA margin expansion.
2> PVR plans to open 5 IMAX screens.
3> Ticket cap in Telangana was increased to Rs 200 and Rs 300 for regular and gold class, respectively, due to higher GST rate.
4> Local body tax of 30 percent above the GST rate of 28 percent led to a strike in Tamil Nadu; and
5> one MRP (no differential pricing) for products at airports, malls and cinemas.
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