Thomas Cook (India) Ltd declares strong FY19 Results

• TCIL consolidated FY18 & FY19 results are not comparable as the former includes 11 months of Quess results.
• TCIL’s FY 18 consolidated results also include a one-time accounting gain of Rs. 5.3 Bn. on account of the Quess deconsolidation.
• Adjusting for this one-time accounting gain, TCIL standalone PBT increased by 875% from Rs. 41 Mn. in FY18 to Rs. 395 Mn. in FY19
• Consolidated PBT increased by 985% from Rs. 53 Mn. in FY18 to Rs. 573 Mn. in FY19*
• EBIT for Foreign Exchange and Travel Services increased by 29% from Rs. 2061 Mn. in FY18 to Rs. 2653 Mn. in FY19
• Delivers strong revenue growth of 19% in Travel & 14% in retail Forex for the FY and registers healthy forward bookings of 15%

* w.e.f. March 1, 2018 Quess has been deconsolidated
TCIL’s 48.82% stake in Quess corp accounts for a share of profit of Rs 495.7 Mn. for the FY, post adjusting for the amortization of intangibles as a result of the Quess deconsolidation.

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. (TCIL), India’s largest integrated travel services company, today announced its financial results for the year ended March 31, 2019 with a strong performance across its lines of businesses.

Highlights FY19:

Group Consolidated:

• Consolidated revenue from operations for FY19 increased by 18% from Rs.56 Bn. to Rs.66 Bn.
• Consolidated PBT increased by 985% from Rs. 53 Mn. in FY18 to Rs. 573 Mn. in FY19*

Highlights of segmental performance FY19:

Travel Services

• The revenue from operations from the Travel Businesses increased by 19% in FY19;
EBIT registered a growth of 34% from Rs. 1357 Mn. to 1818 Mn.
• The Destination Management Services (DMS) companies have reduced losses significantly from Rs. 374 Mn. to Rs. 128 Mn.
Foreign Exchange

• Retail business revenue growth of 14% YoY
• The Thomas Cook Borderless Prepaid Card (BPC) sales increased by 12% YoY

TCIL Standalone:

• Due to strong trading across businesses, revenue from operations for FY19 increased by 18% from Rs.19 Bn. to Rs. 23 Bn.
• Excluding the one-time net gain Rs. 5344 Mn. in FY 18, profits grew from Rs. 41 Mn. in FY 18 to Rs. 395 Mn. in FY 19
• The year saw strong revenue growth across Holiday businesses (17%) & MICE (50%)

Highlights Q4 FY19:

Group Consolidated:

• Income from operations grew by 14% from Rs. 12 Bn. to Rs. 13.6 Bn.
• Strong forward booking position for the Outbound businesses with a YoY growth of 15%
Highlights of segment performance:

Travel Services

• The revenue from operations from the Travel Businesses increased 14% from Rs. 11 Bn. to Rs. 12 Bn. YoY; EBIT registered a growth of 33% from Rs. 105 Mn. to 141 Mn. for the corresponding period
Foreign Exchange

• Retail growth in revenue of 8% YoY
• The Thomas Cook Borderless Prepaid Card (BPC) sales increased by 13% YoY

TCIL Standalone Q4 2019:

• Due to strong trading across businesses, Revenue from operations for Q4 FY19 increased by 13% YoY from Rs. 3.3 Bn. to Rs. 3.7 Bn.
• The quarter saw strong performances across Holiday businesses (20%), MICE (89%) Corporate Travel (19%) Foreign Exchange revenues increased by (7%)
• The Company’s E-Business witnessed strong growth in sales across business lines with an increase of 49% in Outbound, 30% in Domestic, 14% in Forex and 36% in Visa

Vacation ownership & resorts business (Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited) FY19:

Revenue from Operations grew by 3% from Rs. 2746 Mn. to Rs. 2827 Mn. on a comparable basis, excluding INDAS impact on revenue accounting
• Operating EBITDA for FY 19 has remained stable at (-)108.5 Mn. on a comparable basis, excluding the Ind-AS impact on revenue accounting
• Reported EBT is a loss of Rs. 539 Mn. in FY19 vs. a loss of Rs. 294 Mn. in FY18
• Occupancy reduced by 1.4% and Average Room Rent increased by 6.5% YoY

Update on recent acquisitions:

• Completed acquisition of a 51% stake in Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI), one of the world’s leading imaging solutions and services providers at an enterprise value of US$ 40.6 Mn. (Rs. 289 crores). This acquisition marks the Thomas Cook India Group’s entry into an adjacent sector, IS complementary to its travel & travel related services portfolio and is both PAT and free cash accretive from day one
• Thomas Cook India’s investment in the travel tech space through Ithaka is witnessing growth with over 4000 trips planned representing a 100% growth over the previous quarter. New destinations introduced include UAE, France, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Italy in the last quarter
Material events & outlook:

• India Network expansion: TCIL opened a total of 66 new outlets in FY 2018-19: 10 owned branches and 31 franchise outlets for its holiday businesses; 14 foreign exchange branches and 3 implants, also 8 Foreign Exchange airport counters at Varanasi, Madurai, Guwahati and Jaipur. This network expansion extends the company’s visibility across both metros/mini metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata; equally across Regional India’s Tier II & III source markets like Bareilly, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nashik, Sri Ganganagar, Faridabad, Shimla, Guntur, Shivmoga, Cuttack and Ranchi.
• Innovation: Launched its exclusive Ladies First, women-only group tours, to popular domestic and international destinations with the inclusion of a dedicated Thomas Cook woman Tour Manager
• Launched a dedicated app for Borderless multicurrency prepaid card users in partnership with MasterCard
• SOTC launched On the Go, a portal that helps customers curate their travel itinerary with inimitable experiential aspects and guided journeys- from sightseeing tours, day trips, unique experiences, shows/concerts, popular activities to handpicked hotels, transportation, etc.
• SOTC launched its first ever cashless travel insurance product in association with online travel insurance company GoDigit, offering a range of insurance plans with quick and easy purchase online.
• Customer Experience: Focused on improving customer experience, Thomas Cook India’s Project Udaan was launched across lines of business. Scope ranging from improving staff skills across retail and online channels, improving processes for better engagement with customers during their journey from booking to travel & tracking key integrated experience metrics of customer experience - all focused on delivering industry leading customer experience.

Management comments
Mr. Madhavan Menon, Chairman and Managing Director, Thomas Cook India Group, said, “The strong all round performance of the Thomas Cook India Group for FY19 demonstrates the width and diversification of the Group, not only across geographies, but business segments. This is the result of a journey we embarked on since 2012, when Thomas Cook India’s ownership transferred entirely from the British parent to Fairfax Financial Holdings. Today the TC India Group operates across 29 countries and 5 continents, straddling across travel services, financial services, DMS and portfolio investments like Ithaka and more recently Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI). We will remain focused on 1) Continued investments in technology & analytics to deliver top notch customer experience and 2) Driving economies of scale and efficiency from shared services and backend integration with a view to grow stakeholder value. On the back of the strong mandate for continuity given to the Govt. in this Indian election, we are confident that the pro travel & tourism focus will continue and nurture a growth stimulating macro environment.”

About Thomas Cook (India) Limited: Set up in 1881, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. (TCIL) is the leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services that include Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, MICE, Leisure Travel, Insurance, Visa and Passport services and E-Business. It operates leading B2C and B2B brands including Thomas Cook, SOTC, TCI, SITA, Asian Trails, Allied T Pro, Australian Tours Management, Desert Adventures, Travel Circle International Limited, Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI), Private Safaris East & South Africa.

As one of the largest travel service provider networks headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, The Thomas Cook India Group spans 29 countries across 5 continents, a team of over 8226 and a combined revenue in excess of Rs. 11,411.6 Cr. (over $ 1.75 Bn).

TCIL has been felicitated with The Best Outbound Tour Operator at the Times Travel Awards 2018 & 2019 and Leading Company with Cutting Edge Travel Innovation at the Times Travel Awards 2018, Best Risk Management-Framework & Systems at the India Risk Management Awards 2019; Excellence in Domestic Tour Operations at the SATTE Awards 2018, Best Travel Entrepreneur of The Year at TTG Travel Awards 2017, The French Ambassador’s Diamond Award for Exemplary Achievements in Visa Insurance– 2015 to 2018 and the Condé Nast Traveller – Readers’ Travel Awards from 2011 to 2018.

CRISIL has reaffirmed the rating on debt programmes and bank facilities of Thomas Cook (India) Ltd at ‘CRISIL AA-/Stable on the long-term bank facilities of TCIL and CRISIL A1+ rating on the short-term bank facilities and short- term debt of the Company.

For more information, please visit www.thomascook.in

Fairbridge Capital (Mauritius) Limited, a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited promotes TCIL by holding 66.93% of its paid up capital and is responsible for the execution of acquisition and investment opportunities.

About Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited: Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and investment management. Founded in 1985 by the present Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prem Watsa, the company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Its common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol FFH and in U.S. dollars under the symbol FFH.U.

About Quess Corp Limited: TCIL owns 48.82% of Quess Corp Limited, a provider of integrated business services.

About Subsidiaries of Thomas Cook (India) Ltd.: Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, wholly owned subsidiary of TCIL is engaged in time share and resort business.

SOTC Travel Limited (Formerly known as SOTC Travel Private Limited) wholly owned subsidiary of TCIL is a leading travel and tourism company active across various travel segments including Leisure Travel, Incentive Travel and Business Travel.

TCIL owns 100% of TC Forex Services Limited (Formerly known as Tata Capital Forex Limited) (TC Forex) and TC Travel Services Limited (Formerly known as TC Travel and Services Limited) (TC Travel). TC Forex offers travel related foreign exchange products including Currency notes, Travel Cards and Traveller’s cheques and TC Travel offers a wide range of services including Airline ticketing, Booking Hotel accommodation, Visa and Passport facilitation, Travel insurance and more.

Thomas Cook India Group has recently completed its acquisition of a 51% stake in DEI Holdings Limited (DEI), one of the world’s leading imaging solutions and services providers.

For more information, visit:
Quess Corp Limited: http://www.quesscorp.com
Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited: http://www.sterlingholidays.com
SOTC Travel Limited: http://www.sotc.in

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This release was published on openPR.