Higher Commission Helps EaseMyTrip Achieve 86% Profit Growth, Despite Decline In Revenue

While the pandemic has hit the travel and tourism sector and most of the traveltech companies, New Delhi-based Easy Trip Planners has registered a profit of INR 61.4 Cr for FY 2020-21. It is an over 86% jump in comparison to INR 33 Cr profit for FY 2019-20.

Half of the profits were recorded in the fourth quarter when the first wave of the pandemic had gone down and the rise of the second wave wasn’t noticed until March. The company recorded a net profit of INR 30.5 crore in the fourth quarter of the fiscal as opposed to a profit of INR 3.6 crore in the previous fiscal.

Ease Trip Planners runs the online travel portal easemytrip.com and had a successful IPO earlier this year. Debuted at INR 212 per share on March 8, on National Stock Exchange, shares of Easy Trip Planners are now trading at INR 421.

The company has termed the increase in margin & commissions and reduction in operational exchanges as the major drivers behind its highest ever profit. The total expenditure was halved from INR 135 Cr in FY 2019-20 to INR 67 Cr in FY 2020-21.

“This was possible due to increased commission from airlines, increase in operational efficiencies and our model of working on lean cost of operations. We have battled the headwinds of the Covid-19 pandemic and returned with strong profitability due to our lean cost structure and our ability to economise further without losing out on the revenue pie. FY20-21 was a year where the first two quarters were basically a washout for the industry due to the lockdown,” said Cofounder Easy Trip Planners Prashant Pitti.

Another traveltech company MakeMyTrip too has managed to reduce its adjusted net loss to $9.2 Mn in FY2021, as compared to $86.5 Mn in the year ended March 31, 2020. The company has reported revenue of $163 Mn in fiscal year 2021 (FY21), ending March 30, 2021, a massive decline of 68% from the previous year. MakeMyTrip reported revenue of $79 Mn in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, up from $56.8 Mn in Q3.

Easy Trip Planners registered a 50% decline in its gross booking revenue at INR 4,204 Cr in FY 2019-20 to INR 2,128 crore in FY 2020-21. Total income for FY 2020-2021 stood at INR 151 Cr as against INR 181 Cr in the previous fiscal.

As the second wave of the pandemic is slowly coming down, the company anticipates a huge pent up demand for the travel & tourism sector post the vaccination drive across India.

“With new avenues for growth from hotels & holiday sector and leveraging our existing base of customers for cross selling we anticipate increased wallet share from our customers enhancing the revenues & profitability going forward. Moving forward, we also reiterate our confidence in our ability to sustain Company’s delivery of outstanding shareholder value,” said Pitti.