PremiumNEW DELHI: There is a huge pent up demand for travel and the tourism sector will be the biggest beneficiary after vaccination picks up pace in the country, said Prashant Pitti, co-founder and executive director of EaseMyTrip (Easy Trip Planners Ltd). The company recently listed on the stock exchanges in March and, earlier this week, announced an interim 100% dividend of ₹2 per share on its equity shares.
EaseMyTrip has about ₹208 crore in its bank accounts and as fixed deposits, and has been profitable since the last 13 years, Pitti said explaining the logic behind announcing the dividend, especially at a time when travel companies are staring at an uncertain future due to the rising number of covid-19 cases across the country and resulting restrictions imposed by states to contain the virus.
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Premium Travel will bounce back once at least 30% of the population is vaccinated and this could be achieved in the coming months as there is an intent from the government to see this through, Pitti said.
"We are a cash rich company with zero debt in the books. Not much capex (capital expenditure) is required for the future as 100% business is on the website/app," he added.
Easy Trip Planners' ₹510-crore initial public offer (IPO) was subscribed a whopping 159.33 times in March.
"EBITDA for FY20 was ₹49.9 Crore. Even in the covid year (FY2021), EBIDTA for 9 month of FY21 was ₹43 Crore," Pitti said adding that Ease My Trip grew 47% on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) basis from FY18 to FY20 (based on gross booking revenue). EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
"(Company's) gross booking during FY20 crossed ₹4,208 crore," he added.
Founded in 2008, Easy Trip Planners is an online travel agency market with offices across various Indian cities, including Noida, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
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Premium Premium However, EaseMyTrip, which provides flight tickets, train and bus tickets, holiday packages, charters and taxi services among others, has seen a sharp fall in bookings during April due to the rising number of covid-19 cases across the country.
"April booking is 30% less than March. But, we believe in vaccination drive, and with 34 lakh people getting jabs every day, we believe that we will beat the virus when 30% people get jabbed," Pitti said, adding that the travel sector will be the biggest gainer after the vaccine.
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