IRCTC shares hit 52-week high on plans to expand non-railway catering biz

Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the tourism and catering arm of Indian railways, surged as much as 2.8% on Thursday to hit a 52-week high of ₹800 apiece on the BSE, a day after the company unveiled plans to expand its non-railway catering business pan India.

The share price of the company opened higher at ₹795.05, up 2.1%, as against the previous closing price of ₹778. At 11:25 am, the share price of the state-run company was trading 1.75% higher at ₹791.65. The company’s market capitalisation in early trading session stood at ₹63,300 crore with more than 3.28 lakh shares exchanging hands on the BSE, as against the two-week average of 3.47 lakh shares. The company hit a 52-week low of ₹557.15 on March 29 this year.

In the past one month, three months and six months, the counter has given 18.13%, 13.81% and 7.87% in returns, respectively. In the year-to-date period, the counter has given 23.40% in return.

According to the mini-Ratna PSU, IRCTC is in discussions with various organisations and industrial houses to set up catering units. It aims to become a premier brand of hospitality and catering in the country.

"IRCTC is now on the road to proliferate in the areas of business beyond railways for promoting its brands and business across the nations," says the company.

"With aggressive plans to mark its signature in the catering business and customising to the requirements of clients, IRCTC has already signed MoUs (memorandum of understandings) with various government and autonomous bodies including defence establishments such as Border Security Force (BSF), Indian Maritime University- Kolkata, Cotton University- Guwahati and so on while the company is in active phase of commissioning 15 more catering units across the country in the near future," it adds.

At present, the company, apart from railways, caters for various ministries, government departments, and autonomous bodies such as judiciary and universities.

In the July to September quarter this year, the company’s net profit witnessed a growth of 30% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹295 crore as against ₹226 crore in the same period last year. The company’s revenue from operations in the September quarter surged 23% year-on-year to ₹995 crore as against ₹806 crore in the same year. Of this, the revenue from the catering segment surged 29% to ₹431 crore as against ₹334 crore in the same period last year. The revenue from the rail neer segment stood at ₹78 crore, witnessing a growth of 4% YoY as against ₹75 crore in the same period last year.

According to the rating agency CRISIL Ratings, the tour and travel industry is expected to grow by 12-14% in FY25.