Shares of online travel aggregator Ixigo took off on the bourses after the company reported strong earnings for FY24. The strong financial performance of the firm underscores strong recovery and growth traction in a challenging market environment.
Ixigo in its FY 2024 posted a PAT of INR 73 crores, increased by leaps and bounds from the PAT of the past periods. Behind the sharp rise in profits stands increased operational efficiency and widening its services’ offerings with a strategic focus. The company’s revenues in FY24 were at INR 656 crores, with substantial growth on a YoY basis.
The already outstanding financial performance of Ixigo is further cemented by the nine-month earning reports for the fiscal year 2024 that show the company has recorded a revenue of INR 491 crore and profit of INR 65.7 crore, both evidently improved in comparison to previous fiscal years. This shows that improved revenue and profitability in synergies have closely been associated with increased travel bookings and better customer engagement flowing from Ixigo’s technological advancements and customer-centric initiatives.
Some of these have included strategic investments in technology, data science, and artificial intelligence, all in the goal of upping the prowess of this platform for personalized and efficient user servicing. A sum of INR 25.8 crore was invested from Ixigo IPO proceeds into data science and technology to improve data science proficiency toward stronger platform capabilities for traveling into the future. The investments have indeed materialized, forcing Ixigo to better reciprocate growing user needs and keep itself relevant in very dynamic travel activities.
Additionally, Ixigo earmarked INR 45 crore received from the IPO for meeting the working capital requirements in order to help it sustain the momentum in growth. The balance is being used on acquisitions, strategic initiatives, or any other matter connected to general corporate purposes, moving the company towards its long-term objectives.
Firstly, the IPO clearance was yet another milestone in marking the readiness of the company, which did plan to go public in 2021 but shelved its ideas due to unfavorable market conditions. The fresh draft red herring prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India outlined that Ixigo is proposed to make an initial public offering to raise ₹120 crore. And an offer-for-sale of up to 66,677,674 equity shares, according to the latest draft red herring prospectus filed with SEBI. This will make the company financially strong and capable of building capital to fuel further expansions.
The main stakeholders in this IPO will be Elevation Capital, Peak XV Partners, and co-founders Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar. They are the ones holding all the major chunk of stakes in the company. This, of course, speaks a lot about the amount of confidence one will have in the growth model and strategic directions of Ixigo.
Its operational performance was also noteworthy in FY 23 as the company reported a 32% growth in revenue to INR 501 crore from INR 379.6 crore in FY22. This is in addition to moving the company from a loss of INR 21 crores in FY22 to profitability of INR 23.4 crores in the first financial year 23. This positive turn of financial metrics not only establishes the resilience of Ixigo but further testifies to the confidence the company has in exploiting market challenges.
The company’s focused efforts in customer engagement, combined with strategic investments behind technology and operational efficiencies, are well placed at a vantage point for continuous growth. With Ixigo now preparing for its IPO with its service suite further expanding, the company sits well poised to capitalize on this growing demand for travel and its ancillary service needs, as life enters a post-pandemic world.
In a nutshell, all this helps Ixigo to reiterate its FY24 commitments and continue with its growth and market leadership. This commitment, at the core of the company, supports its positioning in the dynamic travel industry to remain relevant and competitive in its efforts to leverage technology and enhance the customer’s experience.
