Travel service provider Yatra Online made a weak debut on the bourses today, September 28, 2023. The stock listed at ₹127.5 on the NSE, a discount of 10.2 percent to the issue price of ₹142. Meanwhile, on the BSE, it listed at ₹130, an 8.45 percent discount.
The ₹775 crore IPO was open for subscription between September 15 and September 20 at a price band in the range of ₹135-142 per share.
The issue was overall subscribed to 1.66 times. It received bids for 5.45 crore equity shares as against 4.98 crore shares on the offer. The portion for retail investors was booked the most, 2.19 times. Meanwhile, the qualified institutional bidders (QIBs) quota was subscribed to 2.10 times but the non-institutional investors' category was subscribed to just 51 percent during the three-day bidding process.
The IPO comprises of a fresh issuance of 4.23 crore shares aggregating up to ₹602 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 1.22 crore shares by a promoter and existing investor worth ₹173 crore. Under the OFS, promoter THCL Travel Holding will sell 1.17 crore shares and investor Pandara Trust will offload 4.31 lakh units.
The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offer to fund strategic investments, acquisitions, and inorganic expansion, as well as general corporate purposes, investments in customer acquisition and retention, technology, and other organic growth activities.
Investors were invited to participate with a minimum bid of 105 equity shares, with increments in multiples of 105 equity shares. Hence, one lot cost the investors ₹14,910. SBI Capital Markets Ltd, DAM Capital Advisors Ltd, and IIFL Securities Ltd were the book-running lead managers to the offer.
Incorporated in 2005, Yatra Online is India’s leading corporate travel services provider in terms of the number of corporate clients and the third largest online travel company in India. It is a one-stop destination for travel information, pricing, bookings, and more. The company offers various services, including domestic and international air ticketing, bus and rail ticketing, cab bookings, hotel reservations, and ancillary services. Easy Trip Planners is the only listed peer of Yatra with a P/E ratio of 56.53.
For the year ended March 2023, the company clocked revenue growth of 81 percent to ₹397 crore versus ₹198 crore in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, its profit came in at ₹7.6 crore as against a loss of ₹30.7 crore a year ago.
Most brokerages were bullish on the stock given the scope for business improvement, industry tailwinds, brand name, and expansion of the EBITDA margin.
