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Informist, Wednesday, May 28, 2025

By Avishek Rakshit

KOLKATA – A jump in revenues from internet ticketing and tourism operations, together with a one-time gain, and higher profit from the catering division led Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp. Ltd. to report a strong 25.9% on-year growth in its net profit for the March quarter at INR 3.6 billion. The revenue during the quarter grew 10.1% on year to INR 12.7 billion.

IRCTC, as the company is commonly referred to, had reported a top line of INR 11.5 billion and a bottom line of INR 2.8 billion in the year-ago quarter. In Oct-Dec, its revenue was INR 12.2 billion and net profit was INR 3.4 billion.

Revenue from internet ticketing, which is IRCTC's most lucrative business, grew by 8.8% on year to INR 3.7 billion, and the pre-tax profit increased 11.6% on year to INR 3.1 billion. The Navratna company's internet ticket business, which allows consumers to book tickets themselves from internet enabled devices like cellphones and computers, alone accounts for 67% of the pre-tax profit, making it the primary profit earner for the company. Its contribution to the top line was the second highest, accounting for 30.5% of the annual revenues.

In the catering business, which is the primary top line driver, revenues remained nearly flat at INR 5.3 billion, but the pre-tax profit increased by a significant 51.1% to nearly INR 646 million.

In the tourism business, revenue increased 37.7% on year to INR 2.7 billion and the pre-tax profit more than doubled to INR 496 million. The Rail neer division, which retails packaged water, reported a top line growth of 15.7% on year to nearly INR 960 million and the bottom line increased by 9.8% on year to INR 117.1 million.

During 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), the company reported INR 478.9 million as an exceptional item which aided its net profit growth. In the March quarter alone, 95% of this exception item, or INR 456.8 million was reflected in the company's accounts. This item includes reversal of various charges levied previously by Kerala Tourism Development Corp. on the Golden Chariot train.

However, the company's expenses grew 11.5%, ahead of the revenue growth it posted in the March quarter. The largest cost overhead, expenses on catering services grew 2.8% on year to INR 4.1 billion, followed by a substantial 39.5% on year surge in tourism expenses which is the second-largest cost overhead for the company. Employee benefit expenses increased by 7.1% on year to INR 897.2 million, and finance costs surged by 45.4% on year to INR 77.7 million.

During FY25, IRCTC's revenue grew 9.7% on year to INR 46.7 billion and the net profit increased 18.3% on year to INR 13.1 billion. The company will pay INR 1 per share as final dividend for FY25. Wednesday, shares of IRCTC ended 2.1% lower at INR 776.4 on the National Stock Exchange. End

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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