Aviation Slowdown Hits Yatra As Revenue Slumps By 10% In Q3 FY20

Amid the ongoing slowdown in the aviation sector, online travel aggregators are also witnessing a decline in the total number of bookings on their platforms which has been now highlighted in Yatra’s financial report for the third quarter of FY20.

During the three month time period which ended on December 31, 2019, Gurugram and New York-headquartered Yatra posted revenue of INR 196.6 Cr, a 10% decrease from INR 220.7 Cr posted in Q3 FY19, according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

On the other hand, the adjusted revenue of INR 158 Cr also saw a year-on-year decrease of 31.9%. The profit during the same period stood at INR 11.2 Cr which is 17.9% less than INR 13.7 Cr earned by Yatra during Q3 FY19. However, the adjusted EBITDA profit of the company was INR 20.5 Cr which is a 232.9% increase from Q3 FY19.

Cofounder and CEO of Yatra Dhruv Shringi said that despite a challenging environment in the Indian aviation sector, the company was able to achieve both its stated objectives — being adjusted EBITDA positive and posting sequential revenue growth.

During the reported period, Yatra sold 204.7K flight tickets and earned a revenue of INR 102 Cr from it. In Q3 FY19, Yatra had booked a total of 247K. “Domestic air traffic industry growth in the third quarter of the current fiscal year significantly slowed down to 5.8% YoY as compared to 12.4% in the same quarter last year,” Shringi added.

The company also earned INR 21.4 Cr by aggregating 300K hotel rooms and 28K travel packages. The gross value of all the bookings stood at INR 2110 Cr which is a 20.1% decrease from Q3 last year.

In terms of expenses, the company was to decrease employee expenses by 27.8% to INR 42.9 Cr from INR 59.4 Cr which it incurred in Q3 2019. Yatra said that the decrease was primarily due to a decrease in employee share-based payment expenses, certain layoffs and the outsourcing of customer contact centres.

In Q3 FY20, the company was also able to reduce the marketing expenses from INR 27.6 Cr in Q3 FY19 to INR 16.5 Cr. Other operating expenses decreased by 34.6% to INR 52.2 Cr in Q3 FY20 from INR 79.8 Cr in Q3 FY19.

Yatra Merger With Ebix

Founded in August 2006 by Sabina Chopra, Manish Amin and Shringi, Yatra is an online travel aggregator which provide services such as domestic and international air ticketing, hotel booking, homestays, holiday packages, bus ticketing, rail ticketing, activities, attractions, and ancillary services.

In July 2019, Yatra had announced a merger with US-based software company Ebix. In the Q3 FY 20 filings, Yatra said that it has filed a proxy statement and Form S-4 with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 17, 2020, to proceed ahead with the merger.