IRCTC to launch IPO on September 30
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) is all set to launch its initial public offering (IPO) on September 30. The development comes immediately after a sharp turnaround in Indian stock markets including the benchmark Sensex, which gained 8 per cent or 2,899 points after the government cut corporate tax. According to various reports, the IRCTC is expected to announce the price band for its IPO on Wednesday.
In the past few months, several firms had seen the IPO approvals lapse, due to the volatile stock markets following slowing economic growth, the US-China global trade war and rising crude prices.
The proposed IPO is expected to see the government sell stake worth Rs 480 crore through an offer for sale, said a person aware of the development.
The government aims to offload up to 20 million shares in IRCTC via the IPO, Mint reported on 23 August. The government’s stake will come down 12.5 per cent after the stake sale.
According to its DRHP, IRCTC’s sales rose 25 per cent to Rs 1,899 crore in 2018-19 compared with the previous year, while its profit jumped 23.5 per cent to Rs 272.5 crore.
Further, data showed that IRCTC was one of the most transacted websites in the Asia-Pacific region in the last fiscal year, with customers booking around 800,000 tickets per day.
IRCTC’s business is divided into four segments—internet ticketing, catering, packaged drinking water under the ‘Rail Neer’ brand and travel and tourism.
The official website of the IRCTC is one of the most transacted in the Asia-Pacific region, with a transaction volume of more than 25 million a month.
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