MUMBAI: Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd (PSTL), which is under the Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) scanner for a forged open offer letter, has posted a net loss of Rs 853.72 million for Q4 ended 31 March 2009, compared to a net loss of Rs 31.12 million a year ago.

PSTL's turnover has been clobbered in the fourth quarter which has reported an income of Rs 590.93 million from its exhibition business, as against Rs 1.84 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. In the food and beverages segment, the company earned Rs 215.97 million from food and beverages as against Rs 614.88 million a year ago.

“During the quarter, the company had 248 screens and through which 16.86 million tickets were sold, with an Arpu (average revenue per user) of Rs 47.86 at an occupancy rate of 32.35 per cent,” PSTL said in a release.

The company, which has been dogged by controversies, said that the board has approved the extension of the financial year to 15 months up to 30 June 2009.

Additionally, issues related to income tax, increase in leakage rate, recession and strained working capital finance has cost Pyramid Saimira dearly.

For the 12-month period ended 31 March 2009, the company reported a net loss of Rs 1.38 billion, as against a net profit of Rs 578.74 million a year ago.

Income from exhibition came down to Rs 5.24 billion as against Rs 5.50 billion in FY'08. Expenses of the company rose to Rs 6.62 billion as against Rs 6.46 billion in the year ago period.

Meanwhile, the company has disclosed that it has sustained serious losses in its DTH business in Europe, as it could not sustain operations due to the worsening of Europe consumer spending power. However, as a JV partner in the business, the company has “conservatively decided to write off its investments from its books" during the fourth quarter of FY'09.