Buzzing Stocks: Travel operator shares jump 20% on results but remain below IPO price

Shares of Yatra Online Ltd. are locked in a 20% upper circuit on Monday, August 11, in reaction to their June quarter results that were reported after market hours last week.It witnessed a sharp jump in earnings on a low base from last year.

Yatra Online’s profit after tax increased by 297.5% to ₹15.9 crore in the June quarter from ₹4 crore in the previous year.

The company reported a revenue of ₹209.8 crore in the first quarter, up 108.1% from ₹100.8 crore it reported in the same quarter last fiscal.Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 410.7% from ₹4.5 crore last year to ₹22.98 crore in the June quarter this fiscal, while EBITDA margin expanded to 11% from 4.5% in the year-ago period.

The company’s gross bookings increased 9% in the June quarter from the previous year.Growth during the quarter was led by:

• Hotels and packages business and contribution from the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) segment
• Closing of 34 new corporate accounts during the quarter
• Gross debt declining from ₹54.6 crore to ₹2.9 crore sequentially.

The gross margins for the air travel and hotels segments expanded to 4.6% and 9.05% from 3.1% and 7.46%, respectively.

Shares of Yatra Online gained 20% to hit an intraday high of ₹114.9 apiece at 10.31 am on Monday. The stock has gained 36.2% in the past month. However, despite this upmove, the stock remains below its IPO price of ₹143 per share.

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