PVR to hike ticket prices

"Ticket prices might go up by 8-10 per cent across the circuit in the country this year. You have to maintain your margins...until and unless you want your margins to be squeezed, you cannot hold it," PVR's Group President, Pramod Arora, said.

"However, it will depend on the markets where the multiplex is present. In a place like Indore it cannot go up beyond Rs 100 and in a market like Mumbai we cannot afford to sell a ticket below Rs 250," Arora said.

On an average the multiplexes sell tickets at a range of Rs 75-350, depending on the place they are located. The company has also earmarked a capex of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) to open about 60-80 screens in FY 11 and expects a CAGR of 35-45 per cent YoY, he added.

The leading multiplex chain has a total of 136 screens in 18 cities across the country. "The markets are improving and we expect a CAGR of 35-40 per cent YoY. We will be opening around 60-80 screens this fiscal at an investment of Rs 100 crore. Each screen requires around Rs 1.7 crore (Rs 17 million) investment. All the screens will be 3G compliant," Arora said.

The screens would be coming up in cities such as Chandigarh, Kochi, Mangalore, Ludhiana, Howrah, Bangalore, parts of UP and central India. Asked on the reports of the deal with real estate major DLF being called off, Arora said," we have not called off the deal but have suspended it for a while.

We might go for the deal at an appropriate time and if it benefits our shareholders. However, we haven't called off the deal completely," Arora said, adding "we are happy going the organic way."

The multiplex major has recently decided to end the deal involving the sale of the cinema exhibition business of DT Cinemas, as DLF could not meet the terms of the deal. DT Cinemas has a portfolio of 29 screens, of which 26 screens are currently operational in various DLF malls in north India.