Online travel agency Easy Trip Planners will open its maiden public offer for subscription in the coming week. This would be the 10th initial public offering in the year 2021.
Axis Capital and JM Financial are the book-running lead managers to the offer.
Here are 10 key things to know before subscribing to the public issue:
1) IPO Dates
The issue will open for subscription on March 8 and will close on March 10, 2021.
2) About the Public issue
The Rs 510-crore public issue comprises a complete offer for sale by promoters. Nishant Pitti and Rikant Pitti will sell shares worth Rs 255 crore each through the offer.
Investors can bid for a minimum of 80 equity shares and in multiples of 80 equity shares thereafter.
3) Price Band
The company in consultation with merchant bankers has fixed the price band at Rs 186-187 per equity share.
4) Objects of Issue
As it is an offer for sale issue, the company will not receive any issue proceeds and all the money will go to existing selling shareholders.
The company expects that listing the equity shares will enhance visibility and brand and provide liquidity to its existing shareholders.
5) Company Profile
Easy Trip Planners offers a comprehensive range of travel-related products and services for end-to-end travel solutions, including airline tickets, hotels and holiday packages, rail tickets, bus tickets and taxis as well as ancillary value-added services such as travel insurance, visa processing and tickets for activities and attractions. As of December 2020, it provided customers with access to more than 400 international and domestic airlines, more than 1,096,400 hotels in India and international jurisdictions, almost all the railway stations in India as well as bus tickets and taxi rentals for major cities in India.
In addition, as of March 2020, it had 55,981 travel agents registered with the company across almost all major cities in India and it had the largest network of travel agents among key online travel agencies as of such period. Further, the number of travel agents registered with the company increased to 59,274, as of December 2020.
Easy Trip ranked second amongst key online travel agencies in India during the nine months ended December 2020 in terms of booking volume, and third among the key online travel agencies in India in terms of gross booking revenues in FY20.
Its market share in the total Indian online travel agency industry in terms of gross booking revenues and gross booking revenues for airline ticketing segment was approximately 4.6 percent, and 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent, respectively, in FY20.
Easy Trip Planners has recovered 70 percent booking volumes in the third quarter of FY21, in terms of segments in comparison to the third quarter of FY20.
6) Strengths
a) It is one of the leading online travel agencies in India with a customer-focused approach, including the option of no-convenience fee.
b) It has a consistent track record of financial and operational performance with lean and cost-efficient operations.
c) It has in-house advanced technology and analytics capabilities.
d) It has a wide distribution network supported by a hybrid platform.
e) It is a well-recognized brand with a targeted marketing strategy.
f) It has an experienced management team with an established track record.
7) Strategies
a) Easy Trip intends to capitalise on travel industry growth opportunities.
b) It intends to focus on expanding hotel and holiday packages, and railway ticketing operations.
c) It intends to leverage its existing travel agent network in Tier II and Tier III cities and focus on corporate business to grow our business.
d) It intends to continue to invest in technology and product development capabilities.
e) The company intends to continue to enhance cross-selling opportunities and promote the brand.
8) Financials
Easy Trip Planners has been consistently profitable since incorporation, and according to a CRISIL report, it was the only profitable online travel agency among key online travel agencies in India during FY18-FY20, in terms of net profit margin. It had the highest CAGR from FY18-FY20 in terms of gross booking revenue and operating revenues among the key online travel agencies in India.
Its profit grew from Rs 7 crore in FY18 to Rs 35 crore in FY20 driven by recurring other income, mainly comprising of claims written back recovered during the period. The company in FY20 recorded a repeat transaction rate of around 86 percent.
Its revenue grew at a CAGR of 19 percent from FY18 to FY20 driven by an increase in the rendering of services and other operating revenue. It has the lowest marketing and sales expense (0.83 percent) as a percentage of its gross booking revenue in FY20 compared to other online travel agencies.
Easy Trip is the only player among the key online travel agencies in India to record a positive average RoE and RoCE of 36 percent & 19 percent respectively over FY18-FY20.
9) Promoters and Shareholding
Nishant Pitti, Rikant Pittie and Prashant Pitti are the promoters of company. They collectively hold an aggregate of 10,86,44,996 equity shares, aggregating to approximately 100 percent of the pre-off paid-up equity share capital.
10) Management
Nishant Pitti is a Whole-time Director and CEO of the company. He is responsible for the overall management of the company, business development and the financial aspect of the company's business.
Rikant Pittie is a Whole-time Director of the company. He has been responsible for operations, sales, marketing, human resources and technology in the company.
Prashant Pitti is a Whole-time Director of the company and has been responsible for technology, infrastructure, branding and media management in the company. He has also previously worked with Ultimate Infracity Private Limited and Capital One Services, Inc.
Justice Usha Mehra (Retired), Satya Prakash and Vinod Kumar Tripathi are Independent Directors of the company.
