SerpApi.Org
By Praveen Paramasivam
July 22 (Reuters) - Entertainment park operator Imagicaaworld plans to invest up to 10 billion rupees ($103.6 million) over the next five to six years to expand into major Indian cities as demand for leisure experiences rises, a top executive told Reuters.
Shares of Imagicaaworld Entertainment, which were up 2% ahead of the Reuters report, rose as much as 4.3% to the session's high of 48.98 rupees, after Managing Director Jai Malpani outlined the expansion plans.
"(Imagicaaworld plans) to go across India in all tier-1 cities to begin with," Malpani said, citing improving spending power and infrastructure in cities such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and the New Delhi metropolitan area.
The push would deepen Imagicaaworld's presence in a market led by larger rival Wonderla Holidays as spending on experiences is expected to outpace physical goods purchases through 2030, according to property consultancy CBRE.
The company, which operates amusement and theme parks in western cities including Indore and Surat as well as Lonavala near Mumbai, plans to take its portfolio to 13 parks from nine.
The amusement parks sector in India is expected to reach $11.36 billion in revenue by 2033 from $6.96 billion in 2026, according to researcher and consultancy Grand View Research.
PRICE HIKES TO BOOST MARGINS
The expansion plan comes as the operator also looks to rebuild margins after a weak year.
Imagicaaworld plans to raise ticket prices by 5% to 8% in the December quarter and cut discounts, seeking to offset higher electricity and labour costs after keeping prices largely steady in recent years, Malpani said.
The company expects fiscal 2027 revenue growth in the high-single-digit to double-digit percentage range, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation margin "between 40 and 43-odd percentage".
Revenue from operations fell 9% to 3.74 billion rupees in the last fiscal year, while EBITDA margin narrowed to 31% from 42.8%, as an early monsoon and the India-Pakistan conflict disrupted footfalls during the crucial summer season.
($1 = 96.4850 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Subhranshu Sahu)
