Yatra Slips Into The Red In FY24, Posts INR 4.5 Cr Loss

Online travel aggregator (OTA) Yatra Online reported a consolidated net loss of INR 4.5 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) as against a net profit of INR 7.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

The loss was largely attributable to a surge in expenditure, which outgrew sales during the fiscal year. 

Meanwhile, the OTA’s consolidated net profit also declined 37% to INR 5.57 Cr in the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY24 from INR 8.96 Cr in the year-ago period. 

Operating revenue jumped 11% to INR 422.3 Cr in FY24 from INR 380 Cr in FY23. However, it dipped 10% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 107.7 Cr during January-March 2024, largely on account of a “one-time accrual of threshold bonus of GDS contracts” in Q4 FY23.

Yatra’s EBITDA declined more than 48% YoY to INR 10.8 Cr in Q4 FY24. On similar lines, the metric declined 47% YoY to INR 27.3 Cr in FY24. 

Yatra, which competes with the likes of MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip, is primarily focussed on servicing the B2E and B2B2C customers. It has also been diversifying its product mix to cater to a wide variety of business clients. 

Earlier this week, Yatra launched an expense management solution to help global and domestic enterprises manage their business expenditures efficiently by integrating travel bookings with expense tracking.

“Yatra’s gross bookings increased by 12% YoY in the fourth quarter of FY24, driven by a 13.5% growth in air gross bookings. This growth was fueled by a robust rebound in international travel in what is typically the seasonally weakest quarter,” said Yatra CEO and whole time director Dhruv Shringi. 

On the operational front, Yatra said it clocked a 24% YoY growth in domestic air passengers. It also expanded its corporate client base and added 25 new corporate accounts in Q4 FY24.

“Subsequent to the end of the quarter the company also closed the largest public sector bank in India as a customer,” added the company. 

Where Did Yatra Spend?

Yatra’s total expenses surged 16% to INR 449.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 385.1 Cr posted in the previous year. This surge came largely on the back of rising employee benefit expenditure, service costs and promotional expenses. 

Employee Cost: Continuing to be the biggest expense head, Yatra’s employee benefit expenses increased nearly 18% to INR 128.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 109 Cr in FY23. 

Service Cost: Yatra’s spending in this bucket increased 34% YoY to INR 86.3 Cr in FY24.

Marketing & Sales Cost: Advertisement costs soared 37% YoY to INR 45.9 Cr during the year under review.