Key highlights from Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp. Ltd (IRCTC) Q3 FY24 Earnings Concall
- Revenue Growth
- Q3 revenue reached highest ever at INR 1,118 crores, up 21.8% YoY and 12.4% QoQ.
- Catering revenue grew 29.1% YoY to INR 508 crores.
- Internet ticketing revenue grew 11.4% YoY to INR 335 crores.
- Tourism revenue grew 32.28% YoY and 21.11% QoQ to INR 195 crores.
- Profitability
- Q3 net profit highest ever at INR 300 crores, up 17.4% YoY.
- Catering EBITDA margin improved to 15.44% from 10.73% YoY.
- Internet ticketing EBITDA margin stable at 83.7%.
- Tourism turned EBITDA positive at 12.10%.
- Catering Business Growth Drivers
- Introduction of 41 Vande Bharat trains.
- Catering contracts increased from 1200 to 1518.
- Higher FTR coaches boosting revenue.
- Foray into non-railway catering with 8 NRC projects.
- Tie-up with food aggregators like Zomato.
- Growth Outlook
- Railway infrastructure growth positive for all business verticals.
- Catering business has headroom with passenger and train growth.
- 20 lakh meals served daily vs 2 crore daily passengers.
- Scope for exponential growth in meals.
- Ticketing Volumes
- 550 million AC class tickets.
- 456 million non-AC tickets.
- 140 million current booking tickets.
- Convenience fees at INR 219 crores.
- Catering Business Update
- Catering services expense of INR 349 crores.
- Includes reimbursements and railway revenue share.
- Currently 1,518 short term contracts of ~6 months.
- New policy enables 5+2 years contracts.
- Cluster-based approach in 5 phases.
- New Policy Implementation
- Floating tenders aggressively under new policy.
- Will cover all 1,200 trains currently operated.
- Aiming for long-term 5+2 years contracts.
- Entire train base to move to new catering policy.
- New trains to be added on existing base.
- UPI Promotion Incentives
- Part of government promotion directive.
- IRCTC taking lead with large incentives.
- Helps drive digital payments adoption.
- Highest ever revenue this quarter despite incentives.
- Timeline for continuing incentives unclear.
- Tourism Business Growth
- Key offering is rail-based tourism.
- Operating 10+1 Bharat Gaurav trains.
- Signed MoU with Uttarakhand government.
- Talks ongoing with other states like Maharashtra.
- MoUs open big revenue opportunity from state partnerships