The Indian media and entertainment industry presents a rainbow of opportunities across multiple segments of media. Growth in the sector is expected in retail advertisement as several new domestic players are entering the food and beverages segment. E-commerce is gaining much acceptability among the population even for buying movie tickets. The immense potential in the rural sector is a profitable target for media companies as it tries to fulfill the aspirations of the village folks. The Indian exhibition infrastructure is undergoing a steady change over the past couple of years with the experience of watching a movie in a theatre with the family still considered to be one of the most popular options of entertainment. While television has retained its position as the largest segment in the media and entertainment space, growth is expected to come from digital which will overtake print in future. Research analysts advice that the wireline broadband subscriber base can increase to 100 million households in the next five years and the revenue generation could expand to a whopping Rs 80,000 crore from Rs 15,000 crore at present. Cinema multiplex giant PVR Ltd is an excellent company whose story has grown along the Indian growth story over the last 15 odd years. It reported stellar financial numbers for September 2019 with net sales at Rs 973 crore, up 37% from Rs 708 crore for the same period of last year. The net profit stood at Rs 47 crore, up 45% from Rs 33 crore, while EBIDA stood at Rs 324 crore, up 150% from Rs 130 crore for the same period of last fiscal. Its stock quoting at Rs 1,845 on the Indian bourses can appreciate by 20% in the next nine months’ time frame.
Rajiv Kapoor is a share broker, certified mutual fund expert and MDRT insurance agent.