Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Adhidev Chattopadhyay. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Yeah. Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of ICICI Securities, I'd like to welcome everyone to the Wonderla Q1 FY 2025 results call today. From the management, we have with us, as always, Mr. Arun Chittilappilly, the Managing Director, and Mr. Saji K. Louiz, the Chief Financial Officer. I would now like to hand over the call to the management for their opening comments. Over to you. Thank you.
Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Arun. This is Arun Chittilappilly, Managing Director of Wonderla Holidays. I warmly welcome all of you to discuss our Q1 FY 2025 earnings. I'm accompanied by our CFO, Saji, and our COO, Dheeran. I hope everyone has had a chance to go through the results and investment presentation. As we embark on a new financial year, sorry, as we embark on this, result earnings call, I would like to recall the previous year, which began with a strong start, maintaining our growth momentum established by the company in recent years. We found it difficult to grow on top of that, because of external factors. For the quarter, our revenue from operations amounted to INR 172.9 crore, representing a 6% decrease. The quarter also saw the decline in our footfall numbers, which stood at 10 lakh, 10.02 lakh, a decrease of 9%.
Footfalls for the quarter were mainly affected by an unprecedented heat wave, water shortages, and disruptions related to election activities, especially in our key markets like Bangalore and Kochi, leading to the decline. Additionally, we also observed some softening in the discretionary spending following the surge years of event tourism post-COVID. Despite these challenges, the quarter, Hyderabad park recorded highest ever revenue of INR 53 crore since its inception for Q1. This is again a testament to our team's very hard work and dedication. Furthermore, we also have expanded our F&B offering, introducing new themed dining experiences to cater to the diverse tastes. Our ARPU for the quarter stood at 1,680, a growth of 3% YOY. The increase in ARPU was driven by mostly through non-ticket revenue, with encouraging response from walk-ins, groups, and all aspects of our customer base.
The ticket prices were slightly muted; growth was muted, mainly because we had to run a lot of extra offers, to try and get back some of the footfalls we lost during the heat wave. I'm also excited to announce that we have officially commenced operations at our fourth park in Bhubaneswar. This remarkable new destination spans over 50 acres and is inherently very beautiful place of Bhubaneswar. We've also, this park is actually inspired by the region's rich history and vibrant culture. Beyond providing exceptional entertainment, we are also committed to making a positive impact on the local communities. This new development is set to create approximately 450 new jobs, which we have already filled, and particularly within the semi-skilled sector, thereby offering valuable livelihood prospects for the residents of that area.
As far as the Chennai project, we are in. Our initial work has already started from last March onwards. We hope to operationalize this park in FY 2026, most likely December 2025. We are also in talks with different state governments to set up new parks like Indore, Mohali, Noida, and Ahmedabad. As part of our expansion strategy, the Board has also given us approval to explore fundraising options to support our project for the next seven to eight years. We are excited about all the opportunities that are coming our way to set up new parks. Looking ahead, we also have a very optimistic outlook for future growth. We are confident that we should be able to, you know, return back growth in our existing parks and also looking forward to the new parks.
So with this, I will conclude, and I hand over to the CFO for the numbers.
Thank you, Arun. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for being here for our Q1 FY 2025 earnings call. I'm pleased to present a brief overview of our financial performance for the quarter. Our revenue from operations for Q1 FY 2025 stood at INR 172.9 crore as compared to INR 184.6 crore, reflecting a degrowth of 6% YOY. EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 95.9 crore, down by 22% YOY. EBITDA margins for the quarter stood at 54%, decreased by 1,000 basis points YOY basis. Our adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 101.8 crore, down by 17% YOY basis. The profit after tax for the quarter stood at INR 63.2 crore, decreased by 25% on YOY basis. PAT margins for the quarter stood at 36%, 800 basis points degrowth on a YOY basis. Now, moving to park-wise footfalls, our Bangalore Park, we saw a footfall of INR 3.58 lakh.
The Kochi Park received a footfall of INR 2.75 lakh, and Hyderabad recorded INR 2.99 lakh Our new Bhubaneswar Park saw a footfall of about 70,000. Looking ahead, we are excited about the endless opportunities and remain committed to continually setting higher standards and pushing the boundaries of excellence within the amusement park industry. With this, I now conclude my speech and open the forum for Q&A session. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question is from the line of Karan Khanna from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. So Arun, I had just a couple of questions. Firstly, if you think about the footfall decline that you've seen during the first quarter, in particular in Bangalore, almost 24% down YOY. So, what's your outlook for the rest of the year? And given at the start of the year, you sounded confident about a sub-5%, you know, sub-5% footfall growth and mid-teens kind of an ARPU growth. So do you think that, given the trends that you're seeing in the month of July, potentially you'll see similar trends for the rest of the year as well, or there could be some slowdown on that, on that bit?
Yeah. So, it's hard to kind of predict footfalls in our business because, you know, it's completely dependent on, you know, people's ability to move and they're wanting to go out. So for example, this last quarter, what has happened is, I mean, during the beginning of the quarter, it was actually in March itself, there was a heat wave alert, and, you know, there was a lot of advisory saying don't go out, and then there was water shortage. So because of all this, we were also kind of, we also had to, we had to hold back some of our marketing also because, you know, that was the wrong time to say that, you know, you can come and enjoy, you know, and then the water park and stuff. So messaging-wise also it was difficult.
So these kind of challenges will happen, and actually, the majority of the decline happened in April, and then May, our decline in footfalls was actually lower. And then again, June has been declined in some markets. So, it's not the same in every park. So, every park, you know, kind of behaved differently. This time, obviously, Bangalore has been hit by the worst, followed by Kochi, and Hyderabad didn't really, didn't have much of an effect. It did have some effect, but not much of an effect. So we were able to get some footfall back. So, my limited point is it's difficult to forecast how it's going to pan out. But if there are not too many adverse weather issues and some other anything that is adverse to travel and, you know, local travel, I think we should be okay.
We are seeing some decline, especially in Bangalore, continuing until July also. But I think the rains also have been extremely strong, and I'm sure you all know this also in the rest of the country as well. So I think any kind of inclement weather will definitely, you know, see this kind of outings go down. There's only limited, you know, forecasting we can do on that. But if that is not the case, I think we should be able to track the numbers that we were confident about. And we are still; we should still be able to claw back some of the numbers at least before the year end.
Sure. My second question on the Odisha Park, given you have seen, about 2 months of operations, for the park, how are the footfalls trending?
Yeah.
Yeah. So I think, June and the month of July, for, you know, last couple of months, the park has become operational. So how are the footfalls trending on a month-on-month basis? And in the last call, you indicated a ARPU of about INR 800 to a INR 1,000 for the park. Is that the trend for the rest of the year as well?
As of now, we are trending about 130% of footfalls in Odisha. But again, like I said, you know, the first year is very difficult for us to predict, so it could go up and down. As of now, we are above the thing. Our ARPU is also higher. I think we are close to what?
INR 1,300.
INR 1,300 is our ARPU We have, I think, we had predicted only at INR 800-odd, I think. But so our ARPU is better than what we had, what we had, proposed. But yeah, these things will, you know, it'll take about a year, year and a half for it to kind of stabilize the new park.
Sure. Sure. And then last question, you know, with the elections, we had any update from your discussions with state governments regarding, you know, future growth?
We're still awaiting. We are still awaiting. We will let you know.
All right. Thank you. I'll come back in with you. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Himanshu Upadhyay from Bugle Rock Capital Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, good afternoon. My first question was, we have stated that Bhubaneswar has exceeded our expectations. So, and the expectations on the pricing front, we have already stated that they are better. But in terms of footfalls, how are they? And what would be the goal you would like to set to achieve in Bhubaneswar in the next two years? Can it be like Kochi, and?
Yeah. Yeah. We are expecting footfalls of roughly about INR 4.5 lakh for the first year. It should grow in double digits for the first two, you know, two to tree years. It should get to about INR 7-8 lakh visitors in about four or five years. That's what we are hoping to get.
Okay. If you look at the population of Bhubaneswar and near about it would be very similar to Kochi, okay? So still in three to four years, you think it will take more time to reach figures like Kochi because?
It takes more time because I think Odisha is not as developed as Kerala. So I think we don't expect Bhubaneswar to perform as well as Kochi. Maybe it'll be a tier-two city. But at the same time, it will be profitable, and for us, it'll make a lot of sense because it's for us. We've also invested less there. So it should be fine.
I was just getting curious because we are seeing that, ARPU is something like INR 1,300, which is quite decent.
Yeah. Because it's our first year, and we get early adopters, who come to us. They will spend more. As time goes by, that ARPU might drop a little bit because people who come in the beginning, they're willing to spend more. That it's too early to kind of put a number on that right now.
Okay. And one more thing. The board has given us an approval for capital raise. So would you like to first raise capital and then start two or three parks, or you would like to first have land allotted and clarity, and then would like to raise capital? Or how, how would your thinking?
We have 2 or 3 projects in the pipeline, so I think it's time for us to look at it. We'll keep you updated.
Okay. Okay. I'll join back in queue for further questions.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Parth Nakum from R.K. Bhujani and Associates. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, sir. My question was, hello?
Yeah. We can hear you.
Okay. My question was regarding that I have read the outcome of board meeting, meeting of yesterday, which was about to raise the equity or debt or something fund, for seven to eight years expansion plans regarding. My question was that, what, how much, how many parks, we are going to open for these seven to eight years, or how much growth in revenue and EPS, or cash flow can we expect, for these seven to eight years period? And what is the expectation, we can keep on the company?
We can't give you forward-looking EPS and revenue growth, but we'll tell you briefly what we are planning to do, Saji?
Yeah. So we are planning to add up another five parks into the 50. Presently, we have about four parks operating, and then one park is under construction, which is Chennai. And then additionally, five more locations, we are in discussion at various stages with various state governments. So we have kept about six to maximum up to 20, 30, or maybe another one or two years year-end. That's why we kept about six to seven years of cash flow requirement for expansion purpose.
Okay. Okay. Thank you, sir.
Yes. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, just a reminder, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchtone telephone. The next question is from the line of Aditi Nawal from RSPN Ventures. Please go ahead.
Hi. Am I audible?
Yes.
Yeah. Hi. So I'm [Rajendra Koppetta]. I just have a few questions. So, beginning with Odisha Park. So, the first question is that could you, so you mentioned that there's an ARPU of about INR 1,300 from the Odisha Park. So could you give an early on split between what could be the ticketing versus the non-ticketing revenue?
It's about 35% of INR 1,300 comes from our non-ticketing revenue, but that's from the ticketing revenue.
Okay. And, so exactly, so as the earlier participant had also asked, so this park feels like, feels very similar to the Kochi Park, except that it's a tier two, you know, tier two city. So, what kind of footfall are you expecting in the sense of, is it the revision?
Yeah. I have that question just now.
No, no, no. Not in the terms of numbers.
It's roughly about four to 4.5 lakh visitors.
No. I meant more in terms of qualitative, like, is it the religious tourism that we are expecting, or, what kind of?
No, we are expecting people from within the state mostly and maybe neighboring states.
Okay.
People are coming for tourist activities and all that.
Got it. And next is on the Chennai Park. So I think in the last earnings call, you had mentioned that the budget had been revised to about INR 500-odd crore. So are we on line, are we in the line of that, or have we exceeded?
No, not yet.
No further change. The timelines are also intact?
Timelines, there is some delay. We were supposed to open in June 2025, but I think that will get delayed to about December 2025 or maybe January 2026, something like that.
Okay. Got it. Got it. That will be it. Thank you so much.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Natraj Shankar from DSP Mutual Fund. Please go ahead.
Yeah. The Odisha Park commencement, the upfront cost that you would have incurred during the quarter to start the operations, what could you sum it up? Is it possible to share that number? Because it would take some time, as you mentioned, the park to stabilize, but the cost is upfront. And I just want to understand the impact on EBITDA for that.
So the Bhubaneswar Park, we clocked a total revenue of about INR 9 crore. And then, our EBITDA from this park alone, which is about almost like a break-even, about INR 85 lakh is the total EBITDA from this park separately. The cost-wise, we'll have about INR 1 crore of additional expenses towards the wages, and then about INR 70-75 lakh of additional salary cost from this park. This basically is an operational cost for 38 days.
Okay. Understood. Thank you so much.
Marketing, presently, we are done a marketing spend of about INR 3.6 crore, because it includes the launch expenses and all. So all put together about INR 11 crore is what the total expense is, including our depreciation cost. Depreciation is about INR 3 crore, for these two months of operation. It's 38 days of operation.
Thank you so much. That's very helpful.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, just a reminder, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touch-tone telephone. The next question is from the line of Tushar Agarwal from Individual Investor. Please go ahead.
Hello. So am I audible?
Yes.
Sir, I have a couple of questions. First is, can you give me, like, the number that our revenue breakup of group sales or the retail sales?
Most, I think our revenue for Q1 is roughly 80% is retail and 20% is group sales.
So, like, are you planning to, like, maintain this ratio or is there going to be change in this ratio?
Change is every quarter. So right now it's 80/20, and then Q3 it'll become 50/50, and Q4 it'll become like 60/40. So it keeps changing every year, every quarter.
Okay. Sir, my second question is, like, in how?
Okay. And sir, my second question is, like, according to what is our competitor advantage? Like, if we open our park in, like, say, in Rajasthan, and then the other local park is, like, well, well-imaged, like, well, well-settled. So what is our competitor advantage for that?
I think we will be able to give a much better experience. The kind of rides and attractions we have will be of a higher caliber, and we'll be able to come at a lower cost also. So I think, also we are not just an amusement park. We are a, we have, sorry, we are not just a water park. We are an amusement park. So the way we do it is, Wonderla does an amusement park. It's slightly different from other players. And, I think it's more of a value offering. And, so that's, I think that's our USP.
Thank you, sir. Sir, do you have any data on repeated number of customers, like, I mean, for that too?
Sorry?
Repeated number of customers, like, like in the all mature?
Repeated is roughly 50% for us.
50%.
50%.
Okay, sir. Okay, sir. Thank you. That's all. That's all from my side.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kruttika from Sharekhan by BNP Paribas. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity. I have a couple of questions. Firstly, would be on the margins for the current quarter. So we have seen a sharp decline. So basically, that is mainly due to the operation of the Bhubaneswar Park, or are there any other factors due to for the same?
So we have two exceptional items in this particular quarter. One was our ESOP expenses, employee stock option expense of about INR 2 crore. And then, the Bhubaneswar Park loan expenses were there. It was about INR 3.6 crore. This was a one-time expense, which is charged off to the P&L. Other than that, most of the expenses are general in nature. There is no major additional exceptional expenses.
Okay. So, the slide which mentions adjusted EBITDA, that is the EBITDA after adjusting these two items, ESOP and the one-time for Bhubaneswar. Is that right?
Yes. It is about INR 6 crore. Yeah.
Okay. Okay. Got it. And so what would be the margin guidance for the coming quarter? We are expecting it to be lower for FY 2025, but if you have any specific guidance that you can give for the current year?
We can just take the previous history. We try to maintain with the same levels on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Quarter to quarter, there will be some shift in the EBITDA margins, as well as in the PAT margins. So we will try our level best to maintain that. There could be some slightly changes considering the new parks coming in and out.
Right. Right. Okay. Next is about the footfall growth, so that means it's also maintained for the old parks, expect to grow by around 5%. The ARPU we had given guidance for around 10% growth. Is that maintained or any revision in that?
The footfall growth this year, because we've lost some footfall in the Q1, it will be, we will try to kind of make up for the loss, in the next two to tree quarters. And we might end up in a, you know, similar kind of footfall number to the previous year, or maybe slight, improvement also, but it's hard to predict at this point. ARPU growth, again, it depends on the footfall. If there is pressure on footfall, then we will definitely reduce pricing and we'll do more offers. But if it is higher, then obviously we will not do discounting. So, it's hard to kind of predict how it will be. But, we are not expecting, huge ARPU growth because, we might have to do some discounting.
Okay. Okay.
We may not get 10%-12%. We may get, like, 5%-6% of ARPU growth.
Okay. Okay. Okay. Got it. That's it from my side for now. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Himanshu Upadhyay from Bugle Rock Capital Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for giving me another chance. See, my question was, in the previous calls, we have stated that, we are focusing more on retail versus group, as retail is more profitable. But do you think, if the footfalls are not increasing, we need to again, focus more and more on group? And what percentage of revenue was group?
Groups, see, we depend on the quarter, you know. So the first quarter, we don't really get much groups. Q3 and Q4 is when we get the maximum number of groups. So they will definitely be focused on groups. And we are also doing a lot of things to kind of improve that. But every quarter is different. Like, for example, like I said, Q1 is very low on groups. So, I mean, it's difficult to focus on a cohort which doesn't fire in that quarter. So we do it according to the demand that we see.
Okay. So the group business will be mainly Q3, Q4?
Yeah. Always.
And one more thing. Historically, we used to give that statewise footfalls for each of the three parks, okay? So are we little to pre-COVID, okay? So are we back to those statewise mix, or still the mix is narrow or near the three park area only?
It's changed over the years. I mean, every statewise visitor, yeah, it keeps changing. So it's, every quarter it keeps changing. But more or less the same. We get most of our people from the home market.
From Bhubaneswar, do you expect nearby markets of West Bengal and all those? How is the connectivity?
Yeah. We are getting people from North Andhra Pradesh and then, some, some from South West Bengal, some from Chhattisgarh, etc. So 500km radius is our operating range, and that continues.
And the marketing means we have started that, travel and.
Yes.
We have a team in place and everything. Yeah. Oh. Yeah. Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, just a reminder, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touch-tone telephone. As there are no further questions, I will now like to hand the conference over to the management for the closing comments.
Thank you all for joining our Wonderla Q1 FY25 earnings call. We hope to come back and see you guys again in the next quarter with better setup numbers. Until then, please take care.