Indian Railway Catering and Transportation Corporation (IRCTC) on Monday, November 7, declared an interim dividend of ₹2.50 per equity share for the financial year 2023-24. This represents 125% of the paid-up share capital amounting to ₹160 crore.

The record date for the purpose of payment of the interim dividend has been fixed as November 17, 2023, the company said in a filing while announcing its September quarter (Q2FY24) results.

The catering arm of the Indian Railways reported a 30% year-on-year (YoY) rise in standalone net profit at ₹295 crore for the quarter ended September 2023. The company had reported a net profit of ₹226 crore in the year-ago period.

The platform company's revenue from operations in the quarter under review spiked 23% on-year to ₹995 crore, compared to ₹806 crore in the same period a year ago.

Sequentially, the profit rose 27% in the second quarter from ₹232 crore reported in the previous June quarter. Revenues were flat quarter-on-quarter.

IRCTC's EBITDA or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 20% on-year to ₹366.5 crore from ₹304.9 crore in the same quarter a year ago. The EBITDA margin stood at 36.8% as against 37.8% in the September quarter of last fiscal.

Segment-wise biz performance

While all segments of IRCTC performed strongly on a YoY basis, the state teertha segment had a stellar quarter.

Sales from state teertha climbed 119% on-year to ₹64.84 crore in the quarter under review from ₹29.62 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Internet ticketing sales rose 9% YoY to ₹327.50 crore as the company saw robust railway ticket sales in the quarter as travelling picked up. The same was ₹300 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Catering, which is the second-largest revenue contributor, saw its sales rise 29% on-year to ₹431.5 crore in the reported quarter.

Sales for the tourism segment jumped 39% to ₹96.55 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal.

The company's board has also approved the formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) for IRCTC I-Pay business, subject to the approval of Registrar of Companies and other appropriate authorities.

IRCTC to move from largecap to midcap?

The IRCTC stock can move from the large-cap category to the mid-cap category during the upcoming semi-annual categorisation of stocks by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) in January 2024, according to Nuvama Quantitative and Alternative Research.

READ HERE: IRFC, Suzlon shares among likely large-cap, mid-cap entrants in AMFI Jan rejig

Apart from IRCTC, stocks including UPL, Hero MotoCorp, Adani Wilmar, PI Industries, Bosch, Tube Investments and Samvardhana Motherson, can move to the mid-cap category from large-cap category, according to Nuvama’s analysis.

IRCTC shares on Tuesday closed 1.68% higher at ₹682.75 apiece on the NSE. The scrip gained 6.29% so far this year, while it fell 10.31% in the last one year.

First Published:Nov 7, 2023 4:00 PM IST