Wonderla's Chennai Amusement Park Expected To Be Operational By FY26 End, Says MD

Leading amusement park chain Wonderla Holidays Ltd. expects its upcoming park in Chennai to become operational by the end of the next financial year, said Managing Director Arun K Chittilappilly. 

The company plans to utilise the funds raised through the qualified institutional placement for the Chennai amusement park. Earlier this week, Wonderla Holidays announced that its board had approved raising funds up to Rs 500-600 crore through a QIP at a floor price of Rs 829.74 per share.

This money would be to the tune of Rs 550 crore, most of which would be used to set up the Rs 500-crore Chennai amusement park, Chittilappilly told NDTV Profit.

“The money raised is going to be used for our upcoming project in Chennai mostly...And also, for expanding our other existing amusement parks in Bengaluru, Kochi and Hyderabad,” he said.

The Chennai park will be operational within the next financial year, the top executive said.

“Our Chennai Park will be operational towards the end of next financial year. We expect roughly 8-10 lakh footfalls in the first couple of years. It should break even in the first year itself,” he said.

However, to break even at the net profit levels, it would take some more time, Chittilappilly said.

“At the PAT (profit after tax) level, it will break even in year four or year five, depending on footfall growth over the years. But at an Ebitda level, it should break even in the first year,” he explained.

Wonderla Holidays currently operates in four cities, including Bengaluru, Kochi, Hyderabad, and Bhubaneswar, where it opened an amusement park in September.

Chittilappilly said with amusement parks set to be a growing industry in India, the company was looking to expand its footprint to 10 cities “as soon as possible.”

“We have such a young population and such a growing young population. We need to be present in at least the major cities. Our plan is to be present in the tier 1 and tier 2 cities of India. We are currently in four cities. We want to be in about 10 cities as soon as possible,” he said.

While the company expects 10% to 15% growth from its existing parks in the next three to four years, it is looking at the Chennai park to give impetus to growth, Chittilappilly said.

Shares of Wonderla Holidays Ltd. were trading 0.37% lower at Rs 891.1 apiece on the NSE at 11:50 a.m. on Friday, compared to a 0.15% decline in benchmark Nifty 50 at 24,672.15.