EconomyCompanies
Ixigo posts record ₹63 crore profit, helped by Freshbus stake sale
The travel booking company's bookings grew 22% in the September quarter, led by flights and buses, but its core operating profit fell as it spent on hotels and AI.
Key points
- Ixigo's quarterly profit hit an all-time high of ₹63.42 crore.
- Gross transaction value rose 22% to ₹5,304 crore, led by flights and buses.
- Adjusted EBITDA fell 17% to ₹23.58 crore as the company invested in hotels and AI.
Le Travenues Technology, which runs the travel booking platform Ixigo, reported its highest-ever quarterly profit on Saturday, lifted by a one-off gain from selling part of its stake in the bus operator Freshbus.
Profit after tax for July-September was ₹63.42 crore. Revenue from operations rose 13% to ₹320.96 crore from ₹284.2 crore a year earlier.
The underlying business grew faster than revenue. Gross transaction value, the total value of tickets and rooms booked through the platform, rose 22% to ₹5,304.47 crore. Flights grew 37% and buses 32%.
“Our PAT was an all-time high aided by our partial sale of stake in Freshbus,” the company’s leadership said in a statement issued by group chief executive Aloke Bajpai, group co-CEO Rajnish Kumar and group chief financial officer Saurabh Devendra Singh.
Hotels, the new bet
For the first time Ixigo disclosed hotels as a separate business. Hotel bookings were worth ₹111 crore, 2.6 times the level of a year earlier, with revenue from the business up more than 500%. The company said it earned a gross take rate of more than 12% on those bookings.
That expansion is costing money. Adjusted EBITDA, a measure of operating profit that adds back stock option costs and leaves out other income, fell 17% to ₹23.58 crore from ₹28.48 crore.
“We continue to invest in Hotels and AI as key drivers of our long-term growth,” the statement said.
The shares will trade for the first time after the results on Monday.