UFO Moviez India Limited (UFO) Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the UFO Movies India Limited Q1 FY27 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star when zero on your touchstone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. The company is represented by Mr. Rajesh Mishra, Executive Director and Group CEO, Mr. Ashish Malsteh, Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Siddharth Bharadwaj, CEO of the company. I would now like to hand over the call to Mr. Rajesh Mishra for his opening remarks, post which we can start the question and answer session. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you. Greetings, everyone, and thank you all for joining our Q1FY27 Earnings call. Q1 FY27 witnessed increasing theatrical momentum. The quarter commenced with the continued strong theatrical run of Urundar's The Revenge, while films such as Booth Bungla contributed to the healthy audience engagement across key markets. May maintained good theatrical momentum led by the success of Malayalam film Grishamki along with Strong performance of Marathi film Rajashivati. While a few Hindi films delivered moderate box-office performance, regional cinema continued to attract audience and highlighted the growing appeal of films across languages. June concluded the quarter on a positive note, supported by a strong performance of Welcome to the Jungle, May Wapas Aunga, and Cocktail 2. The diverse content slate helped sustain audience interest and advertiser engagement during the quarter. Overall, Q1 FY27 reflected encouraging theatrical trends to the industry, despite southern regional cinema remaining subdued. The continuing blockbuster performance of Durandagar events, along with the performance of select India regional titles, supported improved advertiser participation, contributing to a 33% year-on-year growth in our advertisement series. Looking ahead, a healthy pipeline across languages, coupled with improving advertiser sentiment, Gives us confidence in the growth prospects of advertising over the coming quarters. The last quarter saw lesser number of movie releases. In total, 399 movies were released, including versions and languages, during the quarter, compared to 456 in Q1 FY26 and 459 in Q4 FY26. On the screen network front, our advertisements footprint now stands at 3,891 screens, comprising 2,565 multiplex screens and 1,326 finger screens. Turning to the key figures for the quarter ended June 2026. Consolidated revenue for 21FY27 to get Rs.1,118 million. Again, it is 1,090 million in Q1 FY26, and it is 1,342 million in Q4 FY26. EBITDA for the quarter was Rs 189 million as against Rs 193 million in Q1 FY26 and Rs 182 million in Q4 FY26. Pads stood at Rs.56 million, compared with Rs.65 million in Q1 FY26. And rupees 45 million in Q4 FY26. The consolidated cash at the end of the quarter was rupees 1462 million and the net cash was rupees 624 million after considering outstanding debt. Looking ahead, Q1 FY27 has commenced on an encouraging note with the release of films which is Alfa, Dhamal 4 and Jen Mayagan. The outlook for the remainder of the quarter remains positive, supported by an exciting slate of upcoming releases, including Bhatwara 1947, Toxic, Haywan, Awarapan 2, and others. With a healthy content pipeline and improving industry sentiment, we remain confident about the theatrical business and our ability to capitalize on the opportunities ahead. I would like to take this opportunity. To thank all of our shareholders, exhibitors, advertisers, business partners, and employees for their continued trust and support. With that, I would now like to open the floor for questions. My colleagues, Mr. Ashish Malister, Chief Final Officer, and Mr. Siddharth, very great CEO, and I will be happy to take your question. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. If you have a question, please press star and 1 on the telephone keypad and wait for your turn to ask the question. If you would like to withdraw your request, you may do so by pressing star and 1 again. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any questions, please press star and one on the telephone keypad. The first question comes from the line of Mr. Shailesh Naik from S-Code. Please go ahead, sir.

Yeah. So, thank you for good performance in advertising this year. So, we have grown by 33% and that's a good start. How much of that would be...

Can you speak a little louder, sir? We are not able to hear you.

Can you hear me now?

Can you hear me now?

Hello. Can you hear me now? Hello. So it has been a good performance on the advertising part. So just wanted to see how much of it is because of the Durandar and what is the rest of the past. That was one question. Second question is, can you just update me on what are the trade receivables because it was very heavily as on March 31st. So how it has progressed and what has been the cash generation in this part. These are the two questions.

In terms of what is the quantum of revenue that can be credited to Durandar. So we'd like to concede here that, you know, the spillover of Durandar, which actually released in the end of quarter, four of last financial year, did actually spill over into the first quarter. And it definitely helped us. You know, build the foundation for this quarter and this financial year. So, we can definitely credit, you know, the performance on advertising fund to the momentum that was built by Varendra, But what it essentially did was... As a financial year, most marketers are planning for the subsequent year. So, you know, a film like Joranda 2. It's not only probably helped us, but will help the industry. I hope that answers your question, the first part, and Ashish, can you talk about? So your question on the data,

so you're writing the first quarter, the financial numbers are not required to be disclosed. But on the data's front, the situation is a lot under comfort and control. 31st March, just to give you specific numbers, 31st March 26th, the NET data is there. 93.5 crores for Indian operations that have come down to 89.4 crores as on 30th June. Now, one bottom point to note is this is despite a very heavy and good performance on the advertisement front, which happened, as Siddharth explained, towards the fag end of Q4, which obviously would lead to data getting generated in the last week of March. And we have at least 120 to 150 days realization period. But in spite of that, the overall letters have reduced from 93.5 crores. to 89.4 crores. And even on a console basis, the situation is good. Internationally, the data is reduced by 10 crores. So on a console level, the net data which were at 152.4 crores have come down to 148.1 crores.

So, basically, you are saying that we would be, by saying, next quarter, we should be in line with that historical number of days of debtors. That is one. Second is on the reason why I asked the earlier question of the result versus the result. Basically, to see, is there the thing that 33% growth is entirely attributed to one such mega hit, and then next quarter onwards, we might again fall back. That is the reason why I asked. The percentage, just wanted to understand the percentage is 10%, 20%, or 30%. So that understanding the next quarter, what kind of horrific in terms of advertising we can look at. That was the only reason. The third, and the question is sales of product has dropped dramatically. Is there any concern there or is it something like we have a sequencing differently across the year? Is there a seasonality pattern in that?

So, let me take the first and third question, or first point and the third question.

First point, where you said that it would come back to the historical trend by Q2, in fact, even now we are very much in control on data. And that is something which we make sure that anything which is more than one year old is 100% for. And that's the reason why we always have this comfort. So even as we speak, in spite of a much stronger performance on advertisement front, we have very much under control on historical terms, historical trend on the data aging. Third part, your observation on sale of product is correct. There is a dip when we compare on bio-vibrances. Over here, one important aspect that happened was the sale of product at a console level has two pockets. One is Indian sales and second is that the sale of product that happens internationally. Till last year, international sale of product constitutes a significant portion, almost 80% plus of the overall sale. Last year, strategically, we decided to Focus on, in fact, last one and a half years ago, we started to focus on this revenue line in India, and that's the reason why last year you have seen a significant growth in this revenue line in India. The drop that you see this year, in this quarter, is predominantly the drop in the international sales. Indian sales have reduced, but not reduced significantly. Thank you. They have gone down by... It has gone up. Indian sales have gone up marginally. But internationally, there has been a significant reduction of about 7 crores. And that reduction is only and only on account of the war situation, which was ongoing there. And as a result of which, the deliveries could not be completed. I mean, the imports could not be completed in... In Dubai and as a result of which the sales could not be completed. So the comforting factor is the sales have not evaporated. The orders are very much there and they were waiting to be executed. So maybe in Q2 and latest by Q3, all those pending orders will get executed and booked as sales. So this is one part which I want to tell you. I think about the second part of your question where you're talking about the advertisement. Whether a blockbuster, to what extent it gives impetus and push, Siddharth would explain a little bit in detail.

So, just to give you a background of how your company actually, how the revenue bucket within advertising revenue bucket, how the different revenues trickle in. One is business that is... You know, consistent across the year, the annual spenders on the platform. And second is tactical money, which comes on, you know, the spike that comes in revenue because of major releases, actually, major titles getting reduced, right? So, so Durandar, what it essentially did, yes, there were a lot of tactical advertisements that happened on Durandar, which was for one week, two week, three week, four week period. Thank you very much. It really comes on the major blockbusters and which will definitely be dependent on, you know, when, what time, what time of the year and what are these films coming. But generally Indeed, we all know by now that, you know, the... We have major holidays and major festivals, and we don't see any aberration this year. Thank you. So, we feel that the tactical thing would also...

So, what is the percentage of tactical versus annual? And advertising?

It's, you know, it all depends. The bigger the fill, the more tactical is contributed. Thank you very much. Thank you. That's been the trend, and which is expected to continue, but we can definitely see us. What's the excitement around the film, right? So, like, Duranathar was a... Coming in. That is how things look, 30 and 60. Going forward, things may change.

That's all.

Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any questions, please press star and one on your telephone keypad. I repeat, if you have any questions, please press star and one on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Mr. Ashish, an energy minister. Please go ahead, sir.

Hi, sir. I have a conversation like for pumping up advertisement revenue. Can we have... Hello, am I audible? Hello, am I audible now?

Yes, yes, sir.

Yeah, I had one suggestion, like, for pumping up our ad revenues, can we have digital ad boards placed in the theater outside the screens? Yeah, within the theatre, outside the screen. Since we have such a huge network.

In the lobby, in the lobby. Yeah. Yes, I think most of the chains, you know, that we all go to, they have that opportunity available. However, you know, that's... There is one, one spend is called on-screen advertising, second is off-screen, that is a separate revenue stream, and that can definitely be built into a new revenue opportunity for the organization. But, uh, Mr. Peter, it's likely about ons. Right.

Thank you.

The best place to advertise for an advertiser is for the cinema screen. Rest everything is What the muck have is done. and maximize the utilization of that inventory. But, yes, your company can explore the opportunity of doing that sometime in the future.

Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any questions, please press star and one on the telephone keypad. I repeat, if you have any questions, please press star and one on a telephone keypad. Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any questions, please press star and one on a telephone keypad. As there are no further questions, I now hand over the floor to the management for closing comments.

Thank you all for joining today's call. We sincerely appreciate your time, continued engagement, and support. Should you have any further queries or require any additional clarification, our team will be happy to assist you. We look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter. Thank you, and have a great day.

Thank you so much, Sam. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference for today. Thank you for your participation and for using DoSaba's conference call service. You may disconnect your lines now. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.