Film Production
UFO Moviez posts Rs 6.52 crore Q1 profit as box office bounces back
MUMBAI: Lights, camera, profit UFO Moviez has kicked off the fiscal year on a blockbuster note, posting a consolidated net profit of Rs 652 lakh for Q1FY26, marking a sharp turnaround from a loss of Rs 414 lakh in the same quarter last year. The homegrown digital cinema distribution major reported a 16 per cent rise in consolidated revenue at Rs 10,903 lakh, up from Rs 9,451 lakh in Q1FY25. EBITDA also saw a healthy jump to Rs 1,929 lakh from Rs 658 lakh a year ago.
Standalone profit came in at Rs 365 lakh versus a loss of Rs 267 lakh in the previous year’s comparable quarter. Notably, this improvement comes despite a 7 per cent drop in standalone net sales compared to the same quarter last year.
The boost in profitability was helped by a sharp reduction in impairment provisions down to zero from Rs 365 lakh last year as well as higher other income and steady cost control across verticals.
Employee costs for the quarter stood at Rs 2,111 lakh (up from Rs 2,191 lakh last year), while ad revenue share expenses held steady at Rs 1,848 lakh. Equipment and lamp purchases jumped significantly to Rs 2,252 lakh, signalling investment in expanding or upgrading the network.
UFO’s Q1 earnings per share stood at Rs 1.68, compared to a loss per share of Rs 1.07 last year.
The company had earlier received NCLT approval for the amalgamation of its two wholly owned subsidiaries Scrabble Digital Limited and UFO Software Technologies Pvt Ltd effective April 1, 2024. As a result, the Q1FY25 numbers have been restated to reflect this merger.
The board meeting to approve the results concluded at 3:50 p.m. on July 31, 2025.
With the film exhibition and cinema tech segments bouncing back post-pandemic, UFO Moviez appears set for a sequel of steady growth.
Film Production
Disney to cut 1,000 jobs under new chief executive
The entertainment giant’s freshly installed boss inherits a restructuring already in motion, with marketing and corporate roles bearing the brunt
CALIFORNIA: Walt Disney is preparing to slash up to 1,000 jobs in the coming weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the entertainment giant’s freshly installed chief executive moves swiftly to trim fat and tighten the ship.
The cuts, less than 1 per cent of Disney’s global workforce of 231,000, will fall hardest on marketing and corporate roles. The planning, notably, began before D’Amaro formally took the top job in March, suggesting the new boss inherited a restructuring already in motion rather than one of his own making.
Driving the push is Asad Ayaz, Disney’s newly appointed chief marketing officer, who in January assumed command of a unified, company-wide marketing operation spanning film, television and streaming. His consolidation drive has been given a suitably cinematic internal name: Project Imagine.
The move is modest by Disney’s recent standards. Between 2023 and 2025, under former chief executive Bob Iger, the company eliminated roughly 8,000 positions across several brutal rounds of cuts, saving $7.5 billion, comfortably exceeding its own targets. As recently as June 2025, several hundred more jobs were axed across Disney Entertainment, hitting film and television marketing, publicity, casting, development and corporate finance.
Disney’s structural headaches are well-documented: shrinking streaming margins, a weakened box office, and fierce competition from Amazon and YouTube gnawing at its flanks. The company is merging its Disney+ and Hulu teams into a single app, has brought in consultants from Bain & Co to guide its broader cost strategy, and is betting heavily on digital growth.
The wider entertainment industry offers little comfort. Sony Pictures, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have all taken the knife to their workforces in recent years, and further cuts loom if Paramount’s acquisition of Warner goes through.
For D’Amaro, the message is clear: there will be no honeymoon period. The magic kingdom still has some cost-cutting spells left to cast.
