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INOX Leisure Ltd, India's No.2 multiplex cinema operator, on Wednesday said its second-quarter loss more than halved, as box office and food and beverage revenues inched closer to pre-pandemic levels.

The company, set to merge with bigger rival PVR Ltd, reported a loss of 403.7 million Indian rupees ($4.9 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to 876.6 million rupees a year earlier.

PVR, too, reported a narrower loss for the quarter, although it missed analysts' expectations.

Multiplex chains like Inox and PVR have seen some traffic return to movie halls after almost two years of Covid-led curbs, with patrons back to spending on theater food and drinks.

This has helped offset some pressure from a lacklustre slate of releases with the likes of "Raksha Bandhan" and "Laal Singh Chaddha" flopping at the box office.

"The second quarter was impacted by the inconsistency in the content value chain, proving the importance of great quality content yet again," Siddharth Jain, Director, INOX Leisure said.

Still, net box office revenue of 2.09 billion was far higher than 270 million rupees in the pandemic-hit quarter a year ago, while food & beverage revenue jumped to 1.10 billion rupees from 150 million rupees.

Box office revenue was 3.11 billion rupees in the corresponding pre-pandemic quarter, while food and beverage revenue was 1.41 billion rupees.

The jump in box office and food sales helped overall revenue from operations surge eight-fold to 3.74 billion rupees and offset a 155.1% jump in total expenses.

INOX's average ticket price, a key indicator for the industry, rose to 215 rupees from 178 rupees, while the average amount spent by each customer hit a record high of 102 rupees.

Jain said he expect a "spectacular" content pipeline and the festive fervour to help current-quarter results. ($1 = 82.9800 Indian rupees)