BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s Easy Trip Planners Ltd, which operates online travel website EaseMyTrip.com, posted a 33.5% jump in fourth-quarter profit on Friday, helped by a burgeoning post-pandemic demand for travel.
The company’s consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 31 rose to 311.5 million rupees ($3.8 million), compared to 233.4 million rupees a year earlier.
Travel-related spending by consumers post COVID restrictions has been strong and steady, benefitting online travel platforms Easy Trip Planners and rival MakeMyTrip Ltd.
India’s domestic passenger volumes will grow on increasing air travel penetration, pent-up demand and improved per-capita income, the company said in a statement.
The company’s expenses more than doubled in the quarter to 763.7 million, led by a three-fold increase in advertising costs, which took a bite out of its profit.
It reported an 83% jump in gross booking revenue (GBR) to 21.43 billion rupees.
Consolidated revenue from operations leapt 92% to 1.17 billion rupees, driven by its mainstay air travel bookings segment, which contributed a hefty 95% to the topline.
Higher demand for air travel also helped Interglobe Aviation, the operator of India’s top airline IndiGo, to offset rising fuel costs and post profit for the second consecutive quarter.
Shares of Easy Trip Planners closed 0.54% up before results.
(1 USD = 82.6001 INR)
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)