Revenue rose 12% year-on-year to Rs 1,843 crore, while EBITDA jumped 58% to Rs 327 crore, with margins improving to 17.8% from 12.6% a year ago. Footfalls increased 15% to 44.5 million, the average ticket price rose 2% to Rs 262, and spends per head on food and beverages fell marginally by 1% to Rs 134.
Advertising revenue touched Rs 126 crore, the highest since the pandemic, rising 15% from a year earlier on the back of longer brand campaigns linked to major film releases.
“There’s no question that the momentum is back,” said Ajay Bijli, managing director of PVR Inox. “Cinema, like any other out-of-home leisure and entertainment format, is here to stay. People can shop online, but they still go to malls; they can order food, but still go out to restaurants; they can listen to music at home, but they still attend concerts. Cinema fits in the same category.”
The September quarter saw no Rs 500-crore blockbusters, but 12 films crossed the Rs 100-crore mark, underscoring a structural shift towards content-led performance. Titles such as Saiyaara, Mahavatar Narsimha, Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, and Su From So drew large audiences despite modest budgets.
“Hardly any major blockbusters came this quarter, but smaller films and sleeper hits did exceptionally well,” Bijli said. “People have fatigue from staying home and watching on smaller screens. They want to come out.”PVR Inox’s gross box office collections (GBOC) grew 17% to Rs 1,170 crore, led by a 21% rise in Hindi films to Rs 542 crore, while Hollywood revenues nearly doubled to Rs 286 crore, driven by F1: The Movie and Jurassic World: Rebirth. Regional films brought in Rs 308 crore, up 3% from last year. Hindi contributed 46% to the exhibitor’s total GBOC, followed by regional (26%) and English (24%).Industry-wide box office collections for the first half of FY26 stood at Rs 6,241 crore, up from Rs 5,446 crore a year earlier. Collections from films earning between Rs 100 crore and Rs 500 crore surged to 59% of total receipts, compared with 21% a year ago, indicating that mid-range performers are now driving growth.
Bijli said the return of audiences is also spurring a renewed emphasis on quality content from filmmakers. “From the content creators’ point of view, they’ve realised that good storytelling connects with audiences,” he said. “Big-budget films are important, but at the end of the day, it’s the script, music, and cinematography that pull people in.”
He said this was the second-highest quarter PVR Inox has had post-COVID. “So both engines that drive our business — the consumer and the content creator — are firing well,” he said. “While there were no Rs 500-crore films, it has been a blockbuster quarter for the industry.”
The exhibitor continued to pare down debt, with net debt more than halving to Rs 618 crore from Rs 1,430 crore at the time of the PVR-Inox merger. Bijli said the company remains on track to add about 100 new screens in FY26, with a mix of owned and asset-light FOCO (franchise-owned, company-operated) models.
He added that screen expansion will continue across tier-two and tier-three cities, particularly in South India. “India remains underscreened compared to other markets,” he said.
Looking ahead, Bijli expects the momentum to carry through the rest of the fiscal year. “Q3 has started off with a bang, with Kantara 2 expected to cross Rs 500 crore and major titles like Avatar 3 and Dhurandhar lined up,” he said.
