We are happy to share with you the key highlights for the Thomas Cook Group for the Quarter ended June 2024.
- Total Income * from Operations for the quarter was Rs 21,325 m registering a growth of 11% YoY
- Profit Before Tax (PBT) * for the quarter was Rs 1,073 m, growth of 17% YoY
- The Group continues to maintain a strong financial position, with Cash and Bank balances of Rs 18.67 Billion as on June 30, 2024
- CRISIL upgrades Thomas Cook India’s Rating Outlook to ‘Positive’, reaffirms Company’s Ratings at CRISIL AA-/Positive & CRISIL A1+
*Excluding mark to market gains from the Company’s shares in Quess Corp Ltd, held through its Employee Benefit Trust
Travel & Related Services
Total Income from Operations – Q1 FY25
Update on Business operations : Travel & Related Services
Corporate Travel:
- Acquisition of new accounts across sectors like Manufacturing, Pharma, Airport Operations, IT& ITES; retention of key global accounts
- Over 49% adoption on the corporate self-booking tool
- Non-Air business has grown YoY by 38.3%
- Productivity efficiency has increased YoY by 16% for Q1 FY25
- Air ticketing from US ARC (US office corporate travel ticketing) is witnessing growth
- Implementation of NDC (New Distribution Capability) on GDS (Global Distribution System) and booking platforms ensuring visibility of all fare levels to corporates and consultants
Meetings-Incentives-Conferences-Exhibitions (MICE)
- Managed over 50 groups, size ranging from 5 – 1500 delegates per group to Switzerland, Canada, France, Hungary, UK, New Zealand, UAE, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Türkiye (International); Chandigarh, Goa, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Punjab (Domestic)
- Thomas Cook India wins ‘MICE Travel Agency (Outbound) award’ at Economic Times MICE & Wedding Tourism Awards 2024
Leisure Travel:
- Thomas Cook India and SOTC successfully operated exclusive charter flights to Bhutan from Bengaluru
- Thomas Cook India and SOTC partnered with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board to launch exclusive aerial darshans to Adi Kailash & Om Parvat (Dev Bhoomi)
- Launched TC Edge & SOTC Holiday Rewards – Loyalty program with a easy interface for online earning and redemption of points for bookings if flights, hotels and holidays.
Destination Management Services (DMS) Network
India DMS – Travel Corporation (India) Limited: Reported significant growth of 58% YoY for Q1 FY25 in turnover
Overseas DMS turnover grew by 26% YoY for Q1 FY25; EBITDA at Rs. 28 Mn Vs a loss of Rs. (44) Mn in Q1 FY24
- Middle East – Desert Adventures: Business reported a steady YoY performance. The MICE segment performed extremely well. The slowdown for Oman and Jordan, impacted overall numbers
- Private Safaris:
- East Africa: Q1 FY25 YoY sales remained stable. Steady volumes were driven by key markets such as USA, Germany, UK, France, India and Romania
- South Africa: Q1 FY25 witnessed the impact of reduced demand for the region, a trend prevalent in the industry and also triggered by the local elections. The focus remained on cost management
- USA – Allied TPro: Registered strong volume growth in Q1 FY25 as compared to the previous year driven by an uptick in volumes across Group and Individual traveller segments
- Asia Pacific – Asian Trails: YoY improvement in performance led by growth in key markets of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.
- During the period, FTI, a key European customer, filed for insolvency, thereby impacting sales and forward bookings in units of East Africa and Asia Pacific.
Update on Business operations: Foreign Exchange
Key Highlights
- Launched EnterpriseFX card – India’s first eco-friendly prepaid corporate card
- Retail growth: led by overseas education 21% YoY; holiday forex 10% YoY for Q1 FY25
- Card loads increased 13% YoY
- The comparable quarter of Q1 FY24, includes operations related to BIAL and benefit of higher Hajj movement.
- Important to note – Income from operations for forex, does not include regular interest earnings on foreign FDs and deposits related to the float generated, amounting to Rs 90 mn as compared to 30 mn in the previous year
- Expansion of both digital and physical distribution:
- Retail: 7 new outlets for the quarter including tier 2 & 3 source markets; opened franchise outlets opened in Bhuj, Lucknow, Faridabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, Jaipur & Kolkata
- A range of digital initiatives including VideoKYC enabled bookings (700 forex bookings since launch in May); TCPay – a digital money transfer service; Forex services via WhatsApp: 2000 interactions daily; 140 forex sales bookings for the quarter
- Teamed up with major educational institutions and counselors, including SP Jain University and Uni Scholar, to deliver complete forex services.
- Launched pioneering RuPay AED (United Arab Emirates Dirham) Forex Card in Thomas Cook India partnership with NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India)
Video link. Click to watch: Video_VKYC.mp4
Update on Business operations: Leisure Hospitality (Sterling Resorts)
- Highest ever Q1 revenues of Rs. 1,257 mn despite headwinds of elections impacting April, heat wave in some locations and lesser wedding dates this quarter
- As Sterling expands its footprint, it has added employees and staff to support new and upcoming resorts. These costs are expected to be offset as occupancy rates in these resorts increase going forward
Update on Business operations : Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging Ltd. (DEI)
- Performance in UAE market impacted on account of weather conditions in April & May
- 8 partnerships renewed in Maldives, Indonesia, Thailand, UAE and Egypt
- 13 new partnerships signed in UAE, Malaysia, Indonesia, Maldives, India, Bahrain and Macau
- 10 partnerships operationally launched in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Indonesia and India
–Inputs from Urvashi Butani–
General Manager- Investor Relations