This travel agency stock has given 183% returns in a year - after pandemic changed its fortunes

• Indian online travel company, Easy Trip Planners, has minted a profit of over ₹100 crore in FY21 for the first time with an outstanding growth rate of 72%.
• Shareholders of the company have made almost three-fold returns on their investments in the company’s stock in the last one year.
• The firm believes the next few years are set to be the golden period for Indian online travel agencies with huge government support.

Lockdown-hit Indians are back to travelling with a vengeance and even the rising costs of essentials and the burden, isn’t holding them back. Proving this theory are the profits minted by Ease My Trip in the FY22 - which grew an outstanding 72% — to hit ₹100 crore for the very first time.

Before the pandemic, it was averaging between ₹30-33 crore in net profits but looks like the pandemic has changed its fortunes for the better as demand for both domestic and international travel grew.

The start of a ‘golden era’
The company, which offers travel-related services for end-to-end travel solutions, believes that the online travel agencies (OTAs) are about to enter a ‘golden period’.

“We believe that the next few years are set to be the golden period for Indian OTAs as the travel and aviation industry, with significant support from the government, will witness a strong growth trajectory. As a result, EaseMyTrip is set to continue its dream run of delivering consistent profits while supporting the revival of the travel ecosystem,” said the company.

A report by Nomura says that after a slow start, tourism is finally reaching a turning point with arrivals in ASEAN meaningfully picking up in April with some traffic from India as well.

The unicorn stock price skyrocketed 183% in the last one year
Shareholders of the company are also enjoying the party as they have been rewarded with almost three times returns on their investments as the stock has skyrocketed 183% in the last one year. The company also outperformed its peers in the space.

In September 2021, EaseMyTrip joined the elite club of India’s first 100 unicorns as the company’s market capitalization crossed $1 billion.

Vacation now and pay later
The company is also looking to tap the market from millennials with a new fintech arm that will provide a ‘Buy now pay later' (BNPL) option. Just like credit cards, BNPL schemes allow you to buy products beforehand and pay in installments. Paytm Postpaid, Ola Money Postpaid, Amazon Pay Later, Flipkart PayLater and several others offer these services.

It also intends to expand its hotels and holidays segments in the years to come. EaseMyTrip provides its users with access to more than 400 international and domestic airlines, over a million hotels as well as train/bus tickets and taxi rentals for major cities in India.

It has offices across various Indian cities, including Noida, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. Its international offices (as subsidiary companies) are in the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the UAE, the UK, and the USA.

It also opened a corporate office in Dubai, and has plans to set up two more in the UK and the US.


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