PVR Inox, India’s largest multiplex operator, swung to a quarterly profit yesterday as the smashing success of Hollywood titles ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’, and hit Bollywood films lured more customers.

The theatre chain, reporting results for the third time since the merger of PVR and Inox, reported a profit of Rs. 1.66 billion ($19.95 million) for the July-September quarter, compared with losses in each of the previous two quarters, a Reuters report stated yesterday.

The company had said in August that the strong box office performances of Hindi films such as ‘Gadar 2’ and ‘Rocky aur Rani ki Prem Kahani’, coupled with ‘Jailer’ in Tamil and ‘Barbenheimer’, had led to record footfall.

That helped PVR Inox, which opened 37 new screens in the quarter, boost theatre occupancy to 32.3 percent this quarter from 22.3 percent in the previous quarter.

Moreover, not only did its average ticket price rise 12.2 percent sequentially to Rs. 276, customers spent Rs. 136 per head on food and beverage in the quarter, more than the Rs. 130 rupees in the previous quarter.

That helped the company’s consolidated revenue surge 53.3 percent sequentially to Rs. 20 billion.

That more than offset PVR Inox spending 66 percent more on movie exhibitions and 44 percent more on food and beverage in anticipation of the higher footfall. Its total expenses jumped 25.3 percent.