The profit after tax (PAT) of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for the quarter ending September 2021, rose by a whopping 386 per cent to ₹158.5 crore compared to ₹32.6 crore reported during the same period last fiscal.
The catering company’s profit in the April-June quarter this year was ₹82.5 crore.
The company’s revenue in the second quarter also rose 357 per cent to ₹405 crore against ₹88.5 crore during the same time last fiscal.
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The growth was mainly seen in the sectors of ticketing and catering among other segments. With the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions encouraging people to travel, the internet ticket sales grew by 355 per cent to ₹265.3 crore from ₹58.3 crore last year.
The next sector that saw a substantial revenue growth was catering, where the company’s year-on-year sales increased by 315 per cent to ₹71.4 crore from 17.2 crore last year.
Revenues of Rail Neer, the company’s drinking water brand, also rose by 345 per cent to 41.6 crore compared to ₹9.2 crore during the same period last fiscal.
IRCTC’s tax expense also increased from ₹46.6 crore to ₹213 crore on a like-to-like basis.
“The company does not foresee any adverse impact on the supply chains as and when the business is resumed fully wherever the operations were curtailed or have remained suspended on account of the present pandemic,” the PSU said in an exchange filing.
The company has reported an EBITDA of ₹227.7 crore and EBITDA margins of 54 per cent in the July-September quarter while its net margins have been pegged at 37.7 per cent.
Also read: How Railways is using COVID pandemic to fastrack revenue growth
The firm’s shares increased by 16 per cent on Thursday after the stock turned ex-split, following an approval by the board for a 1:5 stock split (each stock to be split into five shares). The splitting of stocks increases its liquidity in the capital market as the price of stocks decrease in the process, making them more affordable for prospective investors.
On Monday, the PSU’s stock closed at ₹855.45, higher by ₹9.75 on Sunday.