BookMyShow’s FY22 Sales Jump 274% YoY To INR 277 Cr But Fail To Touch Pre-COVID Levels

Reliance-backed online ticketing portal BookMyShow’s total revenue grew 2.7X to INR 302.9 Cr in the financial year that ended March 31, 2022, compared to the COVID-wrecked FY21. Meanwhile, its total sales (revenue from operations) skyrocketed 274% to INR 277 Cr during the period under review from INR 74 Cr a year ago.

The rise in FY22 revenue remained on the back of people stepping out after bearing multiple lockdowns across the nation. Despite this, BookMyShow failed to operate on the pre-COVID levels, as its revenue from operations was 61% less than INR 701.4 Cr in FY20. 

After a complete halt in FY21, films started releasing in theatres and sports authorities began allowing spectators to the stadium, which directly led to an increase in revenue of the portal.

BookMyShow allows users to book movie tickets from popular multiplexes, including PVR and INOX. The portal also allows customers to book tickets online for sporting events, including IPL and ISL, along with music concerts and stand-up events. 

The internet portal mainly generates revenue from convenience fees for online booking of tickets. Apart from this, the company generates revenue through turnkey ticketing solutions on concerts and events. It also generates revenue from the sale of advertisement space, and food and beverages, among others. 

BookMyShow generated revenue worth INR 218.5 Cr of the total INR 277 Cr from online ticket booking in FY22. Besides, it generated INR 8.9 Cr from turnkey ticketing solutions and INR 24.6 Cr from live events in FY22. 

The portal earned INR 34.6 Cr from online ticketing and INR 13.9 Cr from live events in FY21. 

In FY20, before the onset of the pandemic, BookMyShow earned INR 378.6 Cr from online tickets, and garnered INR 40.1 Cr and INR 182.1 Cr from turnkey ticketing solutions and live events, respectively.

In FY22, BookMyShow saw its total expenses increase 20% to INR 395.1 Cr from INR 329.1 Cr in FY21. 

The slight uptick in expenses could be attributed to the amount that BookMyShow pays to movie theatres. The company under “Revenue Share with Cinema Owners” paid INR 119.7 Cr in FY22, a 403% increase from INR 23.8 Cr paid in FY21. The ticketing platform paid INR 256 Cr to theatres in FY20. 

Due to a rise in revenue and an almost flat expenditure, the internet portal managed to reduce its losses to INR 92.2 Cr in FY22, as compared to INR 222.7 Cr in FY21. BookMyShow had reported a loss of INR 211.5 Cr in FY20. 

It must be noted that BookMyShow’s FY22 revenue remained strong despite the second and third COVID wave in 2021, and it would not be wrong to say that BookMyShow could see a strong FY23 performance. 

Founded in 1999 by Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dhar and Rajesh Balpande, BookMyShow’s cloud-based online ticketing platform for events, movies, sports and plays was launched in 2007. The firm is present in over 650 towns and cities in India. 

Over the years, the company has evolved from a purely online ticketing platform for movies across 6,000 plus screens to end-to-end management of live entertainment events, including music concerts, live performances, theatricals, sports and more.

BookMyShow directly competes against Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm, which also allows users to book movie and events tickets through its app.