Fakoyejo OlalekanOver N441 million was generated by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) in March 2023, the National Chairman of the cinema operators, Opeyemi Ajayi, revealed.
The amount was generated from movies shown across various screen theatres including Silverbird Cinemas, FilmHouse Cinemas, Genesis Cinemas, Ozone and Viva Cinemas.
Prime Business Africa learnt that revenue from screen movies grew by 58.6 per cent month-on-month, rising to N441 million at the end of March. This surpassed the N278 million grossed the month before, despite the Naira scarcity caused by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Naira redesign policy.
Revealing the reason for the growth in revenue, Ajayi said Presidential and National Assembly elections had affected ticket sales in February.
Recall that Nigeria held its Presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25, forcing the cinema operators to shut down business for the weekend.
Ajayi hinted that the weekend general elections ate into the revenue meant to be generated in February, but despite the governorship and state assembly elections held in March, the turnover doubled last month.
Also, the cinema operators felt the ripple effect of the Naira redesign policy of the central bank, which caused a cash crunch across different states.
Prime Business Africa previously reported that Nigerians couldn’t withdraw cash from commercial banks and Point of Sales (PoS) operators.
The financial regulator had phased out old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes on 10 February, replacing them with newly redesigned currencies which were not readily available for bank depositors to withdraw.
Although Nigerian cinemas offer digital payment for their tickets, the cinema business is still largely driven by cash.
Speaking on the cinema market’s earnings, Ajayi told News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that: ”For March, we had total sales of N441,752,914 across all cinema with 174,071 viewers admission into cinemas.
”Sales in March was encouraging compared with February when we recorded total sales of N278 million due to activities of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, as well as the national problem of cash crunch.
”For April, we will be showing: Super Mario Bros, Domitila, Bloomboys, Honey Money, Renfield and The Pope’s exorcist.”
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