₹13,395 cr box office, debt at record low: PVR INOX hits sweet spot

Calendar year 2025 marked a historic milestone for the Indian theatrical industry, emerging as the highest-grossing year ever with total box office collections of ₹13,395 crore.

This represents a 32 per cent increase over pre-pandemic levels and a 13 per cent year-on-year growth.

The year also saw 37 films crossing the ₹100 crore mark at the box office—the highest ever in a single year—highlighting the depth, resilience and long-term relevance of the theatrical medium in India.

Original Hindi-language films contributed significantly to the growth, with the Hindi box office recording its strongest year ever. Collections crossed ₹5,500 crore, marking an 18 per cent year-on-year increase. This performance was driven by a healthier genre mix and a more consistent release slate, led by big-ticket releases such as Dhurandhar, which emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of all time with cumulative box office collections of ₹1,000 crore.

Hollywood also staged a strong recovery in India, registering a 49 per cent year-on-year growth and delivering its best post-pandemic year and second-best year ever after 2019. Box office collections stood at ₹1,403 crore, supported by a stronger and more consistent content slate.

Regional cinema continued to strengthen its contribution, with regional box office collections rising 4 per cent year-on-year to an all-time high of ₹6,488 crore. Gujarati cinema recorded a sharp 188 per cent growth led by Laalo: Krishna Sada Sahaayate, while Kannada cinema grew 74 per cent, driven by Kantara: Chapter 1 and Su from So.

Malayalam cinema crossed the ₹1,000 crore milestone for the second consecutive year, underscoring its strong content credibility and loyal audience base.

For the second consecutive quarter, PVR INOX delivered EBITDA margins of around 18 per cent at occupancies of over 28 per cent, compared to the pre-COVID period when similar margins were achieved at 350–400 basis points higher occupancies. The company said this reflects sustained benefits from merger synergies and structural cost optimisation.

During the quarter, the company added 20 screens and exited three underperforming screens. Over the nine-month period, PVR INOX added 62 screens under FOCO and asset-light models and exited 11 loss-making screens. The company remains on track to add 90–100 new screens in FY26.

Under its capital-light expansion strategy, PVR INOX has signed 149 screens, including 54 under the FOCO model and 95 under the asset-light model.

Strong operating cash flows and reduced capital expenditure helped generate free cash of ₹5,870 million during the nine-month period, enabling a sharp reduction in debt. As of December 31, 2025, net debt stood at ₹3,652 million—the lowest level since the merger—marking a reduction of ₹10,652 million, or 74 per cent, since the merger.

Last month, the company completed the divestment of its entire stake in premium snacking brand 4700BC to Marico for an all-cash consideration of ₹226.8 crore, further strengthening its balance sheet.