Aug 6 (Reuters) - India's PVR Inox PVRL.NS reported a narrower first-quarter loss on Wednesday as a strong box office slate, including Hollywood hit 'Mission Impossible', drew more audiences to theatres and boosted ticket and food sales.

India's largest multiplex operator, formed through the merger of PVR and Inox, reported a consolidated loss of 540 million rupees ($6.2 million) in the April-June quarter, compared with a loss of 1.79 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts, on an average, had expected a loss of 659.1 million rupees.

Shares of the company, which were down 3% ahead of the results, pared most losses to trade 0.3% lower.

Footfalls in cinema halls have been pressured by weak urban consumption, an uneven slate of film releases and growing competition from streaming platforms.

To bring audiences back, PVR offered discounted weekday tickets and relaunched older movie hits, including 'Umrao Jaan'.

These measures, along with strong box office performances of Bollywood and Hollywood films such as 'Sitaare Zameen Par' and 'F1' helped lift audience numbers, the company said.

It reported a 12% on-year rise in footfall for the quarter.

Average ticket prices rose 8% to 254 rupees, while per head spending on food and beverages - such as popcorn and sodas - rose 10% to a record 148 rupees.

This lifted revenue from operations by 23.4% to 14.69 billion rupees, above analysts' average estimate of 14.24 billion rupees.

The results come at a time of growing signs of recovery in urban consumption. Consumer goods firms such as Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS and Britannia BRIT.NS are signalling improving urban demand after several quarters of sluggish growth.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))