UFO Moviez, India’s largest in-cinema advertising platform, announced its financial results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2021.
Theatrical revenues of the Company have witnessed a steady uptick from November 2021 onwards led by release of Bollywood movies. Advertisement revenues, however, as aniticipated continued to remain subdued and is expected to grow only gradually.
Consolidated revenue stood at ₹521 million against ₹274 million in Q3FY21. EBITDA stood at minus (-)₹20 million (Q3FY21 – minus (-)₹227 million). PBT stood at minus (-)₹170 million (Q3FY21 – minus (-)₹372 million) and PAT stood at minus (-)₹130 million against minus (-)₹282 million in Q3FY21.
Consolidated revenue stood at ₹1,067 million (9MFY21 – ₹580 million). EBITDA stood at minus (-)₹353 million (9MFY21 – minus (-)₹677 million). PBT stood at minus (-)₹829 million (9MFY21 – minus (-)₹1,206 million) and PAT stood at minus (-)₹680 million (9MFY21 – minus (-) ₹921 million).
Towards the end of December 2021, major metropolitan cities in India were under the grip of the 3rd wave of COVID-19 led by the Omicron variant. Because of this surge and ensuing restrictions, theatres in Delhi, Haryana, Bihar, Tripura and Himachal were once again fully closed while certain other states re-imposed seating restrictions.However, in a recent announcement, theatres in Delhi are allowed to re-open and operate with 50% occupancy. Theatres in Haryana and Tripura has also opened up.
“During the quarter under review, the financial performance of the Company witnessed recovery led by steady release of movies across genres and languages,” said Kapil Agarwal, Joint Managing Director. “The release and success of Sooryavanshi in November was a defining moment as it restored everyone’s conviction in Cinema as a social entertainment avenue. Other releases like Annaathe, Spiderman, Eternals, Pushpa: The Rise, and 83 also performed extremely well at the box office. However, towards the end of December, the third wave of COVID-19led by the Omicron variant resulted in temporary restrictions yet again in select states. As a result, many movie producers decided to delay their releases. Nevertheless, the impact of the third wave of COVID-19 is expected to be short-lived as majority of India’s population is vaccinated, cases have also begun to decline and restrictions are being eased in various states. In light of easing restrictions and the release slate being extremely robust, we expect big movies to start releasing in theatres soon, thus resuming the Industry’s full recovery.”
