Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Q4 09/10 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY10 total income rose 16.7% to ₹721.97 Cr; net profit increased 35.6% to ₹63.05 Cr, driven mainly by internet ticketing and tourism growth.

• Contribution to Indian Railways revenue reached ₹82.28 Cr, up 7.5% YoY; 85% of current customer bills were collected, while year-end dues were ₹232.32 Cr.

• Tourism, e-ticketing and Railneer expanded, while departmental catering remained loss-making and new rail catering policy changes created material business uncertainty.

Financial highlights

• Total income was ₹721.97 Cr vs ₹618.77 Cr in FY09; PBT was ₹94.76 Cr vs ₹73.85 Cr and PAT was ₹63.05 Cr vs ₹46.50 Cr.

• Internet ticketing and call-centre income rose to ₹112.07 Cr from ₹74.81 Cr; tourism income increased to ₹44.73 Cr from ₹27.94 Cr.

• Tickets worth ₹6,011 Cr were booked vs ₹3,889 Cr in FY09; 7.20 Cr tickets were booked online, compared with 4.41 Cr a year earlier.

• Railways revenue contribution was ₹82.28 Cr vs ₹76.54 Cr; profit appropriation included ₹45 Cr transferred to reserves and ₹12.61 Cr dividend including dividend tax.

• Net prior-period income of ₹1.87 Cr was recorded, comprising ₹2.51 Cr income and ₹0.64 Cr expenses; ₹30 Cr haulage charges were provided, unchanged YoY.

Outlook and guidance

• FY11 results were expected to face adverse effects from the 2010 Catering Policy, which shifts most onboard catering management to Zonal Railways and focuses operations on food plazas, courts and fast-food units.

• Reduced e-ticket service charges were expected to lower gross internet-ticketing revenue by ₹32 Cr in FY11; innovation and value-added services were identified as responses to increasing competition.

• Priorities included tourism package development, educational tours, corporate travel services, modernized ticketing infrastructure and a disaster-recovery site.

• Palur Railneer plant construction was advanced but equipment installation was held up by a pending Supreme Court case; Ambernath plant planning and tendering were underway.