IRCTC profit surges 14% to Rs 172 crore during H1FY20; e-ticketing revenue jumps 81%

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the ticketing arm of the Indian Railways, on Wednesday reported a 14 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in the net profit at Rs 172.16 crore for the half-year period ended September 30, 2019, helped by sharp rise in revenue from e-ticketing segment. This is the first earnings announcement by the IRCTC after its listing on Indian bourses on October 14, 2019.

"The net profit from continuing operations stood at Rs 151 crore in the April-September period of the previous fiscal (H1 FY19), IRCTC said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The Miniratna company said that the management has prepared financial results for 6 month ended September 30, 2019, in the absence of any past practice of quarterly closing of the financial accounts.

IRCTC's net revenue from operations grew 3.77 per cent to Rs 972.61 crore as against Rs 937.25 crore in the first half of the last fiscal.

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Segment wise, revenue from catering business, which contribute the largest portion to the total revenue, rose 12.06 per cent to Rs 538.66 crore versus Rs 480.65 crore in the same period last year. Earnings from internet ticketing services surged 80.8 per cent to Rs 199.3 crore in the April-September period from Rs 110.23 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The profit before tax increased to Rs 265.94 crore during April-September period of 2019 as compared to Rs 230.65 crore in the year-ago period.

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During the period under review, the total expenses increased to Rs 746.48 crore from Rs 734.22 crore in the corresponding period last year.

"The company has applied tax rate enacted on September 30, 2019, i.e., 25.17 per cent for the purpose of calculation of deferred tax assets as against tax rate of 34.944 per cent applicable up to March 31, 2019. This change has resulted in reversal of deferred tax assets during the year," IRCTC said in the regulatory filing.

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IRCTC in a separate filing said that it has Serva & Associates, Chartered Accountant(s), New Delhi, as Statutory Auditor.

Ahead of earnings announcement, IRCTC shares closed 0.11 per cent lower at Rs 931.80 apiece on the BSE. During the day's trade, the stock has gained as much as 5.20 per cent to touch a fresh high of Rs 981.35, against the previous close of Rs 932.80 on BSE.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar