Indian ticketing giant BookMyShow grows 85%

BookMyShow, India’s largest primary ticket agency, returned to profit last year, its latest financial results reveal, with an 85% growth in turnover to ₹2.36 billion (US$35.24 million) for a net profit of ₹31.7 million (US$473,308).

The 2015–2016 financial year (FY16) marked the first time the company’s books have been in the black since 2012–2013 (FY13) – profitability being a “rarity in [the] Indian e-commerce sector”, says the Indian Economic Times – and compares to losses of ₹135.2m and ₹39.8m in FY15 and ’14, respectively.

Online/mobile platform BookMyShow, owned by BigTree Entertainment, leans towards film ticketing, which comprises around half of its business, with live events and sports contributing 35% and advertising the remainder. According to the International Ticketing Yearbook 2016, its share of the Indian live entertainment market stands at 85–90%.

The company in July raised over $80m in venture-capital funding from the US-based Stripes Group, whose managing partner Dan Marriott said BookMyShow is “uniquely positioned to tap into India’s […] entertainment market, which [is] among the fastest growing globally”.

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