For FY 2023-24, Excel Entertainment has turned in the kind of quietly solid year that most mid-sized banners would be happy to sign off on. On revenue of Rs. 147.41 crore, the Farhan Akhtar–Ritesh Sidhwani–led studio has reported net profit of Rs. 8.19 crore, implying a net margin of about 5.6%. It’s not a blockbuster year on the topline, but it underlines the strength of a diversified slate: a mix of theatrical titles like Fukrey 3 and Madgaon Express, plus direct-to-digital offerings such as Friday Night Plan and the continuing tail of earlier hits across satellite and OTT.
The comparison with FY 2022-23 is revealing. In that year, Excel booked a much smaller revenue of Rs. 44.14 crore, but delivered net profit of Rs. 7.90 crore, translating into a far richer net margin of 17.9%. A tight, high-yield slate anchored by co-production revenues from all-time blockbuster KGF – Chapter 2 and horror-comedy Phone Bhoot, along with steady library and web-series income (from franchises like Mirzapur, Inside Edge and Made In Heaven) meant fewer cheques going out and more of each rupee dropping to the bottom line. FY 2023-24, by contrast, shows what happens when the studio leans back into multiple theatrical bets: the topline more than triples, profit inches up only modestly, and the margin compresses from 18% to 6% as P&A spends, talent participation and platform deals catch up with the revenue.
Pull back to the full FY 2013-14 to FY 2023-24 window and Excel’s numbers look like a textbook case of a hit-driven, IP-rich studio learning to live with volatility. Over these 11 financial years, Excel has averaged roughly Rs. 130 crore in annual revenue and Rs. 7.3 crore in net profit, a blended net margin of about 5.6%. Over just the last five years, those averages stand at around Rs. 102 crore of revenue and Rs. 9.1 crore of profit, with margins climbing closer to 9%, as the banner’s web series and franchise strategy started to buffer the ups and downs of pure box office.
Excel Entertainment’s financials underline a banner straddling two identities. On one side is the legacy of theatrical, star-and-idea-driven films – from Dil Chahta Hai and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara to Gold, Gully Boy, Fukrey 3 and Madgaon Express – where a couple of hits can re-rate a year overnight, but also expose the P&L to volatility. On the other sits a newer avatar: a platform-agnostic studio with deep Amazon ties, locking multi-project deals across films like Agni, Ground Zero, Yudhra and the planned Mirzapur film, and using franchises to extend each story’s life well beyond opening weekend.
Excel’s last decade shows that you don’t have to be a Rs. 1,000+ crore-a-year conglomerate to build a durable studio; you need a repeatable mid-budget template, a strong web slate and the willingness to let IP – not just stars – carry the load. With average margins improving in the last five years and a pipeline full of sequels, spin-offs and streaming-first bets, the question now is not whether Excel can find the next Gully Boy moment, but whether it can string together enough of them to turn today’s patchy earnings line into a consistently compounding one.
