Nigeria’s Box office sales falls to N514.7 million in May

Despite a decline in box office sales in Nigeria, cinema operators remain optimistic about the future, anticipating a boost in revenue with the release of new films.

The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) reported that ticket sales generated N514.7 million in May, marking a decrease of N52 million compared to April. The decline was attributed to factors such as the impact of naira scarcity, cash crunch, poor network service, and limited movie releases during the election period.

However, CEAN’s National Chairman, Mr. Opeyemi Ajayi, expressed confidence that cinema lovers can expect an enjoyable June with the arrival of first-rate films.

Decline

The Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) reported that N514.7 million was generated from the box office in May, the report added:

“This shows a decline of N52 million compared to the N566 million tickets sold in April.

“A total of 197,242 patrons also bought tickets at the box office in May showing a decline of 23,539 when compared with the 220,781 tickets sold in April.
National Chairman of CEAN, Mr Opeyemi Ajayi added “For the month of May, we were able to generate N514,653,363 with 197,242 viewers admission

“Cinema lovers can look forward to memorable times this June as there would be first-rate films.”

What you should know

The impact of the naira scarcity earlier this year affected cinema sales in Nigeria, Nairametrics reported in March that Cinema operators in Nigeria announced a huge drop in sales for February as sales fall to N278 million compared with N819 million in January.

The National Chairman of the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), revealed gross admission within the period under review was 122,295

Impact of naira Scarcity

The report said the Operators blamed the cash crunch and poor network service delivery being experienced by POS operators nationwide for the decline in sales, which was also impacted by the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

“A couple of reasons are responsible for the drop in sales. We lost a weekend of sales during the Presidential and National Assembly elections, and Nigerians’ attention was focused on voting across the country.

“Cash crunch and POS failures, affecting trading generally are also affecting the cinemas.

“Many movie producers and distributors avoided releasing movies during the election period. So, the content was also somewhat limited,” he said.