Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Wonderla Holidays Limited Q3 and nine months FY 2026 earnings conference call, hosted by Ambit Capital Private Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Karan Khanna from Ambit Capital Private Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of Ambit Capital, I would like to welcome you all to the 3Q and 9-month FY 2026 earnings conference call for Wonderla Holidays Limited. From the management today, we have with us Mr. Arun Chittilappilly, Managing Director, Mr. Saji Louiz, CFO, and Mr. Dheeran Choudhary, Chief Operating Officer of the company. We would like to now begin the call, with opening remarks from the management, post which we will have the forum open for an interactive question and answer session. Thank you, and over to you, Arun and Saji.
Thank you, Karan. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the conference call for the third quarter of FY 2026. The third quarter represents an important milestone for us. We launched our largest amusement park in our portfolio, Chennai, along with steady financial performance across the other parks as well. For Wonderla, this launch represents a significant step in extending our presence across different states as well as ending our strategy. Importantly, we've been able to execute this project in about 21 months, and with a total investment of roughly INR 600 crore, INR 611 crore. We've also been able to avail the full exemption of local body taxes for the next 10 years, so that's a good thing.
During the quarter, the income grew by 12% year-on-year to INR 141.5 crore, delivering our highest ever Q3 revenue. This growth was achieved through footfalls of about 9.17 lakh, reflecting our continued focus on higher guest spends and improving monetization. ARPU has increased by over 8% for the year to INR 1,377. EBITDA before exceptional items stood at INR 40 crore, up 8%. Importantly, despite absorbing the one-time launch expenses of roughly INR 5.5 crore and the Chennai park also reported a positive EBITDA contribution of INR 1.3 crore, underscoring the strength of our execution.
Our resort property also did very well, with the resort revenues growing by 71% year-on-year and an occupancy reaching 68%. We also marked 20 years of operations of our Bengaluru park, so which is a testament to the durability of our business. We continue to selectively invest in guest experience enhancements, including launch of two new attractions in Kochi and centering engagement and repeat visitation. We also had many seasonal and festive programming, including Christmas and New Year, across the parks and resorts. These efforts reflect Wonderla's ongoing commitment to responsible operations and being a trusted long-term partner within the communities that we operate in.
Looking ahead, focus remains on disciplined growth, driven by ARPU and footfall revenue expansion, and also technology-enabled efficiencies and consistent guest experience delivery. We remain confident in the long-term growth potential of the business and our ability to create sustainable value for our shareholders. With that, I now hand over to Saji to take you through the financial performance in more detail. Saji, over to you.
Thank you, Arun. Good afternoon, everyone. Let me take you through the financial highlights for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2025. For Q3 FY 2026, our revenue from operations stood at INR 134.5 crore as compared to INR 121.5 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, registering a growth of about 11% on a year-on-year basis. EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 32.17 crore, up by 13% year-on-year, with EBITDA margins at 23%. Profit after tax for the quarter stood at INR 14.5 crore as compared to INR 20.3 crore in Q3 FY 2025, resulting in a year-on-year decline of 29%. The decline, in fact, was primarily driven by adoption of new Labour Code-related regulatory changes and increased depreciation of new locations and projects during the quarter.
Moving to the nine-month performance, revenue from operations stood at INR 382.9 crore as compared to INR 361.8 crore in the same period last year, reflecting a growth of 6% on a year-over-year basis. EBITDA for the period stood at INR 116.3 crore, down by 9% on year-on-year basis, with EBITDA margins at 28%. Profit after tax for the nine months ended stood at INR 65.3 crore, as compared to INR 98.2 crore in the corresponding period last year, representing a decline of 34% year-on-year. Similarly to Q3, PAT for the nine months period was impacted by higher compliance costs arising out of adoption of new labor code related regulatory changes and increased depreciation due to new units and projects.
Footfall for the quarter stood at 9.17 lakh, remaining largely in line with the previous period. For nine months ended December 2025, total footfall reached 23.4 lakh, compared to 23.7 lakh in the previous period, reflecting a marginal 1% decline. As mentioned above, during the quarter, company adopted the provisions of the new wage code. The resultant one-time financial impact of INR 8 crore has been recognized and disclosed under exceptional item in line with the accounting standards. With this, I conclude my remarks. We can now open the call for Q&A session. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We'll now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone 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'll wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question is from the line of Vinod Krishna from Avendus Wealth. Please go ahead.
Sir, am I audible, sir?
Yes, please go ahead.
Sir, we have, if you see our Chennai park was planned pre-COVID, and we could do it, because of the different delays, we got it now done. But we have not announced even a single new park, because if you see in the long run, our growth, I don't know how the footfalls will grow, but most growth is from new parks and ARPU. So in the next 2-3 years, can we expect at least another 1-2 parks to be announced and some work going on? Or for now, for next 1-2 years, because it's been almost post-COVID, we have not announced even a single new park. And I'm not saying done, not to progress, but we have not zeroed on even 1 new large park. So just first question on this, sir.
I don't know which world you are living in, but I think we just finished two parks. We opened one in Bhubaneswar last year and in the Chennai one this year. So I think we've launched two parks. We will definitely be announcing more parks, but maybe not in the immediate future, because we are looking at doing larger parks, and they will take more time, as you are aware already. Yeah.
So in the next three years, we can assume one, one or two more parks are to be announced or at least-
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Sir, what were we doing to get footfall growth at least to 1%-2% per year or 3%? Because you said in few con calls that 5% growth is what we are aiming at footfall. So what is your target on footfalls? To what, what can we do to get back on-
Yeah, the target, so for footfalls will grow, I mean, see, right now we are at, you know, we are kind of flattish. Some parks are growing, some parks are not growing. So every park has a different, you know, last, like this year, all the parks which are on the east, like, the eastern side, which is, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar, both got affected by a lot of rains. In fact, even Chennai got affected by rain little bit. So these things will keep happening. So sometimes footfalls will grow. So, a lot of external factors also will affect the footfalls. But having said that, we are still hopeful that numbers will kind of grow, especially in Q2 and Q3 and all that.
Q1 maybe, growth and large number of large growth in footfall, especially from older parks, cannot be expected. But like 1%, 2%, 3% growth can be possible.
So when you say Q1, you're talking about financial year or you're talking about calendar? Sorry.
Yeah, financial year.
Financial year. Okay, so from Q2, Q3, you expect footfall growth. And how is the-
Yeah.
Response in Chennai post-December, sir, post-opening it?
It's good. It's good. It's good. It's good. We are, we are quite happy with the progress, and, you'll see the numbers in the coming-
Sorry to come back to the same question, sir. Any probable locations that you are almost, like, we are nearing in the next one year, we can announce, like Delhi or Ahmedabad or Mumbai?
We will let you know. We will let you know. I can't give you that information right now.
But it is happening in the next 1 year, 2 year, it is, we are announcing, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll definitely not only announcing, we'll start also before that.
Thank you. Thank you very much, sir, and all the best.
Mm-hmm.
Thank you. A reminder to all the participants, if you wish to ask questions, you may press Star and One at this time. Our next question comes from the line of Guneet Singh from Counter Cyclical PMS. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir, thank you for this opportunity. So I would like to understand some economics related to the Chennai park. So what are the fixed costs per quarter for that park and the peak revenue potential from the Chennai park?
Saji, see, the trend of expenses are yet to be discovered because it's a new park as of now. If you look at it, the current quarter, we spent about some INR 8.5 crore, which includes a one-time launch expense of eight and a half crore. And then we have a labor force of about 700 people, both on roll and off roll. As of now, we are expensing about a INR 2.5 crore odd number... we need to stabilize the operations in the next, maybe some 3-4 months, and then post to which we can come to conclusion about the normal, recurring costs at this park.
So you mentioned INR 2.5 crore per quarter, per month?
It's for the month.
Okay. What is the peak revenue potential from this park according to you, as per your understanding from other parks?
I think, within 3-4 years, we slowly plan to pace this park to be in line with the Bengaluru numbers. Because this is the first year, we would also want to wait and see how the overall response is. But our long-term goal is that by the fourth year, it should be able to reach the potential to one of our larger parks, like Bengaluru.
Got it. The Chennai park, I think is already breaking even. You have given Chennai park December month highlights. We did a revenue of about INR 11 crore in December itself?
Yes.
For the entire quarter.
It's for the one month.
All right.
Park was opened in December 2nd.
30 days, to be precise.
Yeah.
All right, so we are already at about an operating profit, about INR 7-8 crore per month from this park itself.
No, we generated roughly about INR 12 crore with an EBITDA margin of 11%.
All right, 11%. Got it. So, I mean, you mentioned about INR 2.5 crore, so the INR 6 crore from this park per month, if I'm not wrong. So, I mean, can you help me understand the math?
No, no, no. The total revenue from this park is about some INR 12 crore, as mentioned by Dheeran. And then with a margin of 11% as of now, it's too early because it's actually the first month of operation, so we need to stabilize the operations in the next 5-6 months. We'll see that, yeah.
So we've also invested heavily on the launch. We've invested heavily on the launch, which, Saji has mentioned, about INR 5.5 crores. Obviously, this kind of one-time expense, this is a one-time expense, and we would not be spending this month on month. So like I said, over the long term, mid to long term, we expect it to give an EBITDA similar to some of our existing large parks, like Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Got it. So you mentioned INR 2.5 crore fixed expenses per month as of now. So, I mean, I would like to understand, is that the correct number going forward for this Chennai park?
No, INR 5.5 crore is one-time park launch expenses. It will not be a repeating expenses, no. It's only for the first month when you are launching the park. It will not be a recurring expenses going forward.
Okay, so INR 2.5 crore is the correct number, monthly expenses for this park.
2.5 is the labor expenses, I said. The total expense can be anywhere about from INR 3 crore to, or maybe INR 4 crore to INR 5 crore, depends. That, that's what we say we are saying, we need to stabilize the operation for the next 4-5 months. Then we'll come to a conclusion where it is ending up. Mostly, if you look at it, what the Bengaluru park is delivering, or maybe the Hyderabad park is delivering, it's almost in similar line with that. EBITDA margins, we have about some 40-45% EBITDA margin from this individual park. This will also achieve that level of EBITDA margin over a period of time. It may not be from the first month itself, but over a period of 4-5 months or maybe the first year of operations, we will reach up to that efficiency.
Got it. And peak revenue from this will be similar to the Bangalore park?
That's the North Star, but we don't anticipate it to happen in year one, because it would take us 3-4 years to build the business and the brand in Tamil Nadu. But in the midterm, like we suggested, that's our North Star, and we're very confident that we should be able to achieve that number.
All right, so got it. My next question is regarding our EBITDA margins. So if we look at the trend for FY 2023, 2024, and now 2025, they have come down to about 50%-30% currently. So, I mean, what is the main reason for this?
No, that was a pent-up demand after the COVID years, that because of we had about some 40% spike in our footfall numbers as well. That cannot be a sustainable model. If you look at the previous history, before COVID, we have been having an EBITDA margin of roughly about some 40% on it, maybe a 10-year period, if you compare.
Got it. So, can we say that the margins are?
Sorry to interrupt you.
Got it.
Sorry to interrupt, Mr.
Go on, thank you.
Can you please join the queue? Thank you.
Sure. Thank you.
Our next question is from the line of Shamit Ashar from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. So after a few muted quarters in terms of footfalls, your Bangalore park saw a 3% footfall growth. So what initiatives did you particularly take to improve footfalls in the Bangalore park? And secondly, your revenue growth during the quarter was led by, you know, Bangalore and Chennai park. And the other parks, like Kochi, Hyderabad, they witnessed some moderation in footfalls. So any guidance on how the revenue and footfall for FY 2026, 2027 would be, and also on the margins? That would be helpful.
Yeah. So I think, we continue to invest in Bengaluru, both towards our sales and marketing strategies, and we've been able to get the upside of that in quarter three. If you look at Hyderabad, over two years, there is still a substantial growth. We, some of our investments in our sales strategies in FY 2025 paid off, and we got a big spike in quarter three of last year. We've been able to sustain that growth, so we would look at this as a green shoot itself.
... Cochin, unfortunately, we had an environmental issue, which was not within our control. There was these waterborne amoeba cases. If you would have noticed, there were multiple news in Kerala, because of which this was the duration of school trips being planned. This amoeba is widely spread among young children, because of which the government had mandated schools not to do trips to water parks, and that actually impacted our business. But I think fundamentally, we are very positive on Cochin Park itself, because quarter two, Cochin delivered one of its best ever quarter two in its history. So it fundamentally, things are working well. It was a one-time microenvironment issue that caused the dip in Cochin Park.
Got it. And guidance on the revenue and footfall numbers for 26, 27?
We don't give guidance like that. So that's not how we look at it, especially because we have a new park, you know, we have a new park that's coming in. So you can expect a significant revenue growth. The rest of it, we'll have to wait and see.
Okay. It's one month already gone by in the fourth quarter, so how are you witnessing demand out here in Jan?
The demand is strong. It's a new park, and we've been able to create a lot of buzz, so I think, we are on a good track.
Okay, all the best. I'll come back in the queue.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that management is able to address questions from all the participants in the conference, please limit your questions to two per participant. Also, whoever wishes to ask a question may press star and one. Our next question is from the line of Naveen, from iThought PMS. Please go ahead.
Hey, congratulations on a good set of numbers, and the opening of the Chennai park. I hope I'm audible?
Yes.
Yeah. So just quick questions on some of the cost line items. So with respect to the Chennai park, mainly, do you know just the employee cost and, like, how much is spent on marketing? Do you feel like, you know, it seems like, you know, the costs go up and we don't anticipate any more, like, near-term investments, or are we still ramping up the promotions with respect to promotions as well as hiring with respect to the Chennai park? Just want to get a broad... You don't need to give numbers, just where we are in terms of, you know, the park. That's it.
In the Chennai park, we have about 600-700 employees, both on role and off role, which will get optimized over a period of time. At present, we are incurring a cost of about INR 2.5-3 crores per month, which can again optimize over a period, as I said. Marketing, since we are launching a park, we will have a lot of events and other activities, which generally we take care in, in any new location. So in this month, we spend about some INR 5.5 crore for this, but eventually it'll settle in. This will not be a recurring expenses. As I suggested earlier, it will be a one-time expenses.
Going forward, for the regular advertisement and other things, as usual, like other parks, about some 7%-10% of our top line will be the marketing spend on a regular basis. Since it is being a new park, there could be an initial spend that will be there, but it will settle down into that ratio.
Got it. Got it. Yeah, thanks for that. That helped a lot. That's it from my end, yeah. Thanks a lot.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Himanshu Upadhyay from Steadfort. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Good afternoon. My question was on the new park. Historically, when we used to give the numbers zone-wise, for Bengaluru, generally, Tamil Nadu would contribute around 15%, 10%-15% of footfalls, and Kochi would used to have around 20%-25% footfalls from Tamil Nadu. So should not we expect the scale-up to be much better and faster in Chennai than what we have historically seen? Because Tamil Nadu, as a market, knows our brand and generally a lot of footfall used to go in other states from Tamil Nadu. So any idea on that? Or how would the-
It's a new park, so it's a new park, so it's very difficult to predict how it's going to ramp up. It will, I mean, usually, even if it's we do heavy marketing, because we are a new park, it's a new location, it takes time, and then also group footfalls have to come. So all that, you know, you have to build it. So, it can, like I said, it can be very high footfall in the first year itself, but we don't look at it like that. We like to estimate it conservatively. And, yeah, so we'll see.
Is there any risk of cannibalization for Bengaluru and Kochi parks or,
No, they're sufficiently far. They're all far out. They're all 500, 600 kilometers away from each other. It's fine.
One more thing, this Mysore footfall has been very, very weak, let's say around 25,000. What are we doing on that park? Because it's on a very low base also, the numbers have been not doing anything great.
That's weather related, so because of cyclones and all that, so we can't do anything. It will come back, it will bounce back once the, This quarter onwards, I think it should be better. Dheeran, you can answer.
Yeah. No, I think, for us also, it's been year two. It's also a different format of park. It's a very different market itself, and I think there is a lot of learnings and insights.
... and I think we are going back to the drawing board to see what else, we could do from these insights and learnings to plan footfall growth. And we're very confident that in the mid to long term, there is a market for us. It's also a small format park, so in the mid to long term, we are going to be able to build a category itself. So unlike our Bangalore and Chennai, which where the category is a lot more salient, here we are the only amusement park kind of building the category, and we hope over a period of time we should be able to get these benefits. So very positive to kind of revamp this on FY 2027. So hoping for the best.
And, one more thing. Do you still think that in tier two towns, the model or a smaller theme park in tier two towns remains a viable model, and it can scale up or after this-
I think eventually, yes, but eventually, yes, but, like I said, like, these are new categories that we are building in a new city, which is not used to this kind of avenues of entertainment. So it will take. It will be time-consuming, I think, if you do it in two or tier two, tier three cities. But, definitely there is a market, but, obviously, it is, it's a, it's a, it's a longer game. But definitely, worth doing because these are all growing cities. Like Bhubaneswar also is a growing city in terms of, you know, its, population, the number of schools, colleges, restaurants, hotels, everything is growing there. So I think in that sense, I think it's, it's okay. But of course, we prefer tier one cities, if possible.
Tier one and tier two cities, I think definitely, we can be done. And also for us, this was also an experiment, so like I said, it, it might take a little bit longer. But long term, I don't think we are worried about it in that fashion.
Okay. Okay, thank you so much, sir.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Ankit Shah from White Equity Investment Advisors. Please go ahead.
Thanks for taking my question. Sir, my question is on new projects. So, can you share some bit more light on how many potential parks are we, you know, kind of working on or are close to signing a deal? And also over the next 3-4 years, after Chennai, how many parks are we likely to operationalize? If you can share, you know, some more light, it will be helpful, particularly because we've been waiting for quite a few quarters for an announcement. You know, if you can throw some more light, it will be helpful.
We will definitely sign one or two... Definitely, minimum one, maybe two or three more locations. Like I said, I can't give you a timeline because this involves the government and government approvals and land acquisitions. So these are all, what do you call it? These are not things that we can, say. I mean, we are hoping to finish some of them early. But, you know, like, for example, working with, Maharashtra government on some, doing something in Bombay. So these are all-- this will take time. It's not going to happen immediately.
Yes.
But we are hoping that it will happen sooner than later. Like, for example, in Bhubaneswar, it happened within a few months.
Mm.
Chennai took a long time. So, you know, they're all different governments, and they have different ways of working. But we are hoping that we can do some of these projects quickly.
Right. So the situation is that there are at least three, four different conversations with the state government that are-
Yes.
happening simultaneously at different stages. And, we are hoping that-
Correct.
-one or two of them should click. Okay, okay. Also, if you can throw some more light on, you know, what are the key issues, you know, where we are kind of getting stuck in these deals?
There are no issues. I mean, this is due process. Land acquisition in any state takes a lot of time, and, you know, it's, it's nothing unusual here. Also, I think, I think, some, you know, government changes and, you know, authority changes that happen in different states also kind of add to the delays. It's usually, it kind of happens. It's a, it's a normal thing, especially in land acquisition.
Mm.
I think once it's done, we will announce. Also, we don't want to give away too much in terms of where we're going to do next. We will... Once it's ready-
Sure.
We'll announce it.
Sure. And the final one is on this only. Is, you know, the next one or two parks that are... So are they likely to be on bought-out land or something like Odisha leased-out land or-
Hard to, hard to-
It could be.
Like I told you, it's very, it could be both. It could be. We don't know which one is going to work first. It's hard to predict. We are hoping the larger ones-
Sure.
will come through or, but we'll see. We'll, we'll keep you posted.
Okay, so that's fine. But, the larger ones, so the, is there a possibility of a large park on a lease basis, or it is like no smaller parks can be on lease and larger will obviously own?
Again, I said that it's hard to comment on this. Both are possible.
Okay.
Yeah, this is possible for a large one also.
Got it. Got it. That's helpful. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Athar Syed from SmartSync Services. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Hello, am I audible?
Yeah.
Sir, I have just a few questions. My one question is on just like a business where we operate is capital-intensive in nature, and basically the patient period, or what we can call payback period, is very long in our business. So going forward, how we will get growth in our business, and what is our vision in the ne—for the next three to five years?
The payback period will be slightly depending upon what, what is your investment is. It's a larger park and then a smaller park, and then combination of that. Historically, we were able to get a payback within some 4-5 years or 5-6 years, depending on the size of the park. The larger the park, suppose, for example, for Chennai, we are investing about, roughly about some INR 600 crore. It can take about some 7-8 years to completely get the entire investment back. And then it again, completely the format of the park is the driving factor for deciding the payback. Region is like, as already mentioned by our MD, we are looking into all the locations of options. So once we describe any deals, when we are closing any deals, we definitely give you an announcement of this.
Okay, sir. And sir, I saw in your presentation, in your resort called Isle, I think, we got a, we get a good response from our customers, basically. And our occupancy rates also increased from 51% to around 60% or 65%. So going forward, you also have planned to start more into this category, like in resort and hotel type.
Not immediately. So we just started the second resort in Bengaluru. So definitely we want to expand it across our park locations and all, but we need to wait some more time because we generally don't start the resort immediately after putting up the park. We just take some time to start the resort. If you look at the Bengaluru, we started the park in summer in 2005, and resort came up in summer in 2014. So we are not an expert in expanding the resort business. We are expert in expanding the amusement park. Our priority is to first look into the amusement park business, and then post to which we will see any expansion of resorts in other locations where we have a presence.
But, like-
We might look at, we might look at another city, like, for example, Hyderabad or Cochin. We might do a resort. We will keep you posted.
Okay. No, no, sir. Actually, if you see, the growth in resort business is quite higher compared to this, general business which we operate. That's why. That's just my suggestion. And last question on this, like you mentioned, our PAT declined by 29%. One reason is depreciation and another is? Can you please repeat that?
PAT decrease is one reason in the Q3 is like just correction, the depreciation of about some INR 6 crore coming from new projects as well as the Chennai park. And then the new labor code impact is there. So with respect to that, there is about some INR 5 crore reduction in our EBITDA. So these are two reasons for the quarter.
Okay, okay, got it. And, sir, our Q3 and Q4 is stronger than Q1 and Q2? Just last one question: Our Q3 and Q4 is stronger than Q1 and Q2, right?
Our Q1 is the strongest quarter, and then followed by Q3 and then Q4. Q2 will be the weakest quarter.
Because of rainfall and all. Okay.
Yes.
Okay, got it. Got it. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, please restrict your questions to one per participant, as there are many participants in the queue waiting for their turn. Our next question is from the line of Abhishek from ICICI Direct. Please go ahead.
... results. Hope I'm audible.
Yes.
I have two questions. So one is,
Abhishek, your voice is breaking.
Audible now?
No, it's still breaking. Can you please use handset?
Yeah, just a second. Hope audible now.
This is better.
Yes.
Please go ahead.
Yeah. So I just wanted to know that, you know, the resort business is scaling up well. I see that the occupancies are also going up well now. So I just wanted to understand how much of it does, you know, flow into the park as well? Now, what I'm trying to understand here is how am I-how many, you know, people check into your resort, you know, get into the park and, you know, spend the day there. And I'll just ask the next question after this.
It's very seasonal. Depending on the season, it varies between 60%-80% of our in-house guests use the park facilities. The reason for setting up these resorts are also because it's an extended premiumized version of our park experience.
Okay, sure. And just one small question is, I think we were adding one more ride, in the Bengaluru park. That was, some, some roller coaster, right? And I just wanted to know, what's the progress on that?
We are finishing it off. Mostly by March end or beginning of April, we'll be launching the new ride.
Okay. And any estimated spends, like what was the spend?
Somewhere between INR 15 crore-INR 20 crore.
Okay, sir. Yeah.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Angad from Samiksha Capital. Please go ahead.
... Thank you. Good set of numbers. Just one question from my end. There has been some media reports about the potential amusement park in Visakhapatnam. Saw some articles on the same. Could you please help us understand if there is any truth on the same, and is company evaluating or what stage is there?
We are just evaluating. No, no confirmation on that yet.
Sure. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Sneha from SKS Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes, please go ahead.
Yeah. I just had one question. Thank you for the opportunity. You mentioned that we would have a stronger growth going ahead. What will be the triggers for that, and are there any near-term triggers as well?
I think one of the obvious impact is that now we have a large format park of Chennai, which was not there in the previous financial year, and that's going to be one of our largest growth drivers. Along with the resort continuing its momentum, that it has delivered good quarters back-to-back in quarter two and quarter three. We are also hopeful that some of our long-term brand play and technology play will continue to deliver good ARPU growth across our existing parks, and hopefully some green shoots in footfall.
Okay, sir, that's it from my side. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Our next question is a follow-up from Vinod Krishna from Avendus Wealth. Please go ahead.
Am I audible, sir?
Yes, yes.
Sir, how do you think about footfall growth over the long run? Is it, how, how should we think, like, because it's difficult to get footfall growth over the long run? What do you normally do and what do you model in, like, 3% or 5% or... When I say long run, I'm even talking 5, 7, 8 years. Let's say Bangalore park, Kochi park, they are still hovering around 1 million for a long, long time. So is it just a function of capacity, or only once you see footfalls, you keep increasing the parks, sir? How do you model for yourself in the long run footfall growth? And what do you do to attract footfalls over the long sustainably?
I think it's a combination of both. Or at some seasons, especially the peak season, there is capacity restraint, and we want to deliver great customer experience, so we do not oversell beyond the capacity. So on certain seasons, we have to leave demand on the table. And the expansion is based on the kind of demand that we see. But I think for mature parks, which have reached its potential of 1 million plus, we do see growth, but I think the larger growth is anticipated from good customer experience, premiumizing our product, and delivering better ARPUs to drive overall revenue growth.
No, no, sir, I'm saying what factors do you think will help us grow over a 3%-4% footfall over the long run? I understand what-- Like, because that's the difficult part of the business, right? To get customers again and again, and-
Actually, we continue to invest on brand, our digital, performance technologies. So we continue to be salient in the entertainment category. We are also very sensitive to environmental factors, like weather, especially. So if the weather works in our favor, the brand investments that we do, there can be substantial spikes after every couple of years that can be anticipated.
Sir, just on the cost of repetition, can we assume at least 1 big park over the next 2-3 years? 1 big and one small or two big parks.
I think-
Can't say. I told you we can't tell you until it's done, right? But yes, I mean, usually you can say that.
Okay. Thank you, sir. All the best.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Parimal Methani from Credential Investments. Please go ahead.
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes.
Hello. The voice-
We can hear you.
Yes, you are audible.
Yes. So, this is to the management. I just wanted to know in terms of the guidelines for the next 4-5 years, and how you see yourself in terms of number of parks and, you know, the way going ahead, it'll be much better for long-term investors like us, if you just show us on the roadmap for it.
Look, I think-
Investing in more locations. We want... Our goal is to be a pan-India and park there. So obviously, we will keep adding new locations. And we will also look at improving revenues and footfalls in our existing locations. There is scope for that also. So these are the two growth drivers. And of course, then we'll be adding on value-added offerings like resorts and things like that. All this will be part of our strategy.
Would it be sufficient to say that in next 5-8 years, we will be close to 6-7 parks, or is it to higher number?
Yeah, I think it is possible. Maybe even higher also, but we'll have to wait and see. I mean, like I said, it's hard to put a number on it.
Okay. Thank you. Thanks.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Jatin moy Karmakar from JHP Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello, am I audible?
Yes.
Hello.
Go ahead.
Am I audible?
Yeah, you are audible.
Just wanted to have a clear picture on the resort of Jungleview. What is the number of keys that we hold right now, and what is the headroom for these keys to build up on the Bangalore park?
We have 123 keys, which is mix of both the resort and the Isle. We've just launched Isle about seven months ago, so I think we are well capacitated, and we've already expanded this. We've also refurbished our existing resort, which was 84 keys. So I don't think in Bengaluru as a city, we look at adding further more keys in the midterm.
Okay, and there is no headroom for growth in Bengaluru in terms of resort?
In the midterm, no. We've just launched The Isle, so I think the focus is how do we continue this growth at least in the next 2-3 years on the existing capacity in Bengaluru.
Ah, okay, okay, okay. Great, great. Thank you so much, and all the best to you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Nikhil Upadhyay from SIMPL. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Just one clarification. In the call you mentioned that, generally for the first quarter or first month, we have these higher marketing expenses for the park. So is it like when - if you look at the other expenses of INR 55 crore, is that booked in this quarter, or would it be booked in the subsequent quarter? Some clarity if you can give.
No, not clear. INR 55 crore, I'm not aware, I'm not sure of the-
So if I look at our other expenses for this quarter, it's INR 55 crore versus last year, similar of INR 49. So is there a higher-
Yeah, which includes the marketing expense as well.
Okay, so some part is booked here, and some part would be booked in March quarter?
No, everything is booked in this quarter. It's already part of the other expenses. So that's what I'm saying.
Okay. Secondly, this is like a pretty basic question, but see, there were some news items and threads where there were some issues with the rides in the initial period in Chennai park. I know this would have happened in other parks also, but does it impact the equity or the footfalls the way we would have thought about, or does it not impact in the longer run? Like, and how do you manage these kind of negative publicity?
So I think, to answer your second question on how do we handle this negative publicity, I think we've been very transparent on why this has happened. And I think when we, when we communicated clearly through our platforms on why this happened, I think the consumers were aware that it was more of power fluctuations than to do with any, safety issues. And that immediately brought back confidence, and that's the reason why we've been able to deliver 75,000 footfall in the first month of operations, despite having red alert and yellow alert the first week of December when we launched. So I think that in the long term, it does not create... If, if everything is communicated clearly to the customer, it does not impact the brand, and we've seen that in our Chennai, numbers in the first month.
Okay, and last question: Is there a seasonality in Chennai, like the way we have for Kochi and Bangalore? Or, is there an extreme seasonality in Chennai? Like, how do you, how should one think about it?
As the nature of the business, we see peak seasons in any region you go during holidays. That's the nature of the business. So we do anticipate seasonality in Chennai, but how the seasonality will play out, we'll have to finish a full year to understand better.
Okay. Sure, thanks. I'll come back.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Vinay Nadkarni from Hathway Investments Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Just wanted to know why was the Hyderabad ticket price dropped this quarter? Any particular reason? Because it seems to be an abnormal drop compared to the other parts where it has been a growth.
Yeah. So if you see, quarter three for Hyderabad is highly dominant on groups front. So these are large school size formats that come. These are large groups that come, obviously, there is some discounting on ticket price. Apart from that, majorly, the skew between the FIT and the group-
Sorry to interrupt you, sir. Your voice is breaking.
Yeah. So it's coming now?
It's still breaking.
Can you hear us?
No, have you changed the mode or the-
No, ma'am, we are able to hear you.
Yes, but your audio seems to be breaking.
Is it possible to disconnect and connect?
Yeah, I'll reconnect you.
No, I think you are clear now.
All right.
Okay.
You can hear me right?
Yeah.
This is better.
Yeah. So, we were saying that, one, for park like Hyderabad, quarter three is heavily dependent on group, which is largely the education institutions. And because these are large volume numbers that come in, they always come in at a discounted rate. But apart from that, there was this skew between the retail to group footfall changed a bit versus the previous quarter. And that primarily changed the ARPU bit. But if you look at over nine months, there is a green shoot in ARPU, and we hope to continue seeing that in the coming quarters as well. So it's just a one-off anomaly.
Okay. Secondly, this exceptional cost that you have said, is that Labor Code provision, is it?
Yes, yes.
Okay. And last, on just a strategic viewpoint. When you're looking at setting up a new park, would a touristy place be more amenable to drawing more crowds automatically when people are in the mood to enjoy and go out to a city like Goa or, you know, would that be a target that you would be looking at?
Yes.
Yeah, Goa is also part of our, we are also looking at Goa as well, yes.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. We have the last question from the line of Guneet Singh from Counter Cyclical PMS. Please go ahead.
I just want to continue on the question. So by when do you expect a Chennai park to break even? And if I'm not wrong, our total, I mean, expenses per month, you mentioned are about INR 4 crore-INR 5 crore. That's about, I think INR 40 crore-INR 50 crore annually. So do we expect to break even in the first year, or if not, by when?
No, historically, we were able to break even in the first year itself, but the margin levels will be slightly lesser than compared to the matured parks. We may be getting about some 20%, 25% of EBITDA margins, whereas the established parks will be having about 40, 45% of EBITDA margin. But we cannot predict as of now, because we just completed one month in Chennai. So we'll take some more time to understand the, the structure at which it will move in, and post to which we'll take a call on this.
Got it. But my assumption that about the INR 50 crore revenue for break even, is that assumption correct for Chennai park?
Yeah. So roughly about some 50-60, in that range we are expecting.
All right. At the Bhubaneswar park that we started, is that also broke even in the first year?
No, year 2.
All right. So, margins, operating margins are currently 30%. So, I mean, what kind of margin do we expect in FY 2027 or FY 2028 once the Bhubaneswar park-
It's hard to predict margins in our business. We, we usually don't give guidance on margins. We can only say that, you know, each of our parks can roughly give the, you know, I don't know, matured level. We can, you know, approximately only we can tell you margins. We can't predict it.
Okay. So what's the operating loss from our-
Sorry to interrupt you.
Sorry, I think we have run out of time.
We have another participant waiting in the queue. Can you please rejoin? Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Girish from Brandstone Investments. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Dheeran, to your reference of North Star to Chennai, you know, but the investment is to the level of INR 611 crore. So INR 170 crore worth of revenue. Is this the right way to model the Chennai park over the next four to five years, or is it a lower number?
Look, that's why that the footfall is the North Star. We also continue to hope to deliver good green shoots in the ARPU. I think only when we'll be able to finish one year, we'll be able to model a more better revenue system for year two, year three, year four. So maybe we can throw some color on this after we complete a year.
Sure. Thank you on that.
Thank you. We take that as the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to management for closing comments.
Thank you all for attending our Q3 FY 2026 conference call. We are very happy with the results that we got for this quarter, and we continue to be optimistic about, you know, business opportunities in our existing and new locations. We hope to see you again in the next quarter. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Ambit Capital Private Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.