IRCTC Q3 profit rises 22% to ₹256 cr, declares dividend; stocks up 2%

Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) rose over 2% in intraday trade on Thursday after the ticketing and catering arm of the Indian Railways released its December quarter earnings and also declared an interim dividend for the financial year 2022-23. The PSU stock has been gaining for the last four sessions and climbed as much as 4.6% during the same period.

On Thursday, IRCTC shares opened marginally higher at ₹642.15 against the previous closing price of ₹641.05 on the BSE. During the session, the stock soared 2.4% to ₹656.60, with 1.17 lakh shares changing hands over the counter as compared to the two-week average volume of 1.44 lakh stocks. Finally, the stock settled at ₹651.25, up 1.6% on the BSE. In comparison, the BSE Sensex ended at 60,806, up 142 points, or 0.23%.  

With a market capitalisation of ₹52,100 crore, IRCTC shares have given a negative return of 23% in the last one year, while it has dipped 3.5% in six month period. In the last one month, the largecap stock has gained 2%, while it climbed 3.6% in a week.

IRCTC on Thursday reported 22.4% growth in its consolidated net profit at ₹255.5 crore for the December quarter (Q3FY23) as compared to ₹208.8 crore in the last year period. On the quarter-on-quarter basis, the net profit after tax climbed 13% from ₹226 crore in the September quarter (Q2FY23).

The company’s revenue from operations surged 70% to ₹918 crore in Q3 FY23, from ₹540 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. On the sequential basis, the revenue grew 14% from ₹806 in the September quarter of FY23.

The total expenses of the company more than doubled during the quarter under the review, climbing 121% to ₹607 crore versus ₹274 crore in the year-ago period.

Segment wise, the revenue from the catering segment zoomed 275% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹394 crore, while the Rail Neer segment generated revenue of ₹79 crore, up 55% as compared to the last-year period. The tourism business registered a growth of 79% YoY at ₹122 crore versus ₹68 crore in a year ago period.

Meanwhile, the internet ticketing business posted a 4% fall in revenues to ₹301 crore compared with ₹313 crore during the October-December period of 2021.

The board of the company also declared an interim dividend of ₹3.50 per share, which is 175% of the paid-up share capital amounting to ₹160 crore. It has fixed February 22, 2023 as record date for the purpose of payment of the said dividend for financial year 2022-23.