Thomas Cook (India) Limited announces results for Q3 FY22 Reports a rapid recovery turning operating EBIDTA positive with a Profit of Rs. 201 Mn.

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Mumbai, February 3, 2022: Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) India’s largest integrated travel services company, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 reflecting a strong rebound despite the challenging environment.

·           Thomas Cook India Board approved conversion of its Optionally Convertible Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares (OCCRPS) into equity shares in accordance with the applicable SEBI Regulations

·           The Group staged a rapid recovery during the third quarter turning operating EBITDA positive and reported a profit of Rs. 201 Mn. in Q3 FY22 Vs a loss of Rs. 574 Mn. in Q3 FY21. The results reflect a strong turnaround on a sequential basis as well:  against the Q2 FY22 loss of Rs. 738 Mn.

·           The companies that returned to profit at operating EBITDA level for the quarter were: Sterling Holidays (Rs. 360 Mn. Vs Rs. 199 Mn.) DEI (Rs. 128 Mn. Vs loss of Rs. 52 Mn.); Desert Adventures (Rs. 127 Mn. Vs loss of Rs. 51 Mn.) on a sequential basis

·           The Thomas Cook India Standalone operating EBITDA loss for the quarter was Rs. 74 Mn. (loss of Rs. 272 Mn. in Q3 FY21) and includes one off non-operational costs of Rs. 61 Mn. This reflects the strong rebound that was witnessed in the quarter

Highlights:

 

·           Out of the original OCCRPS amount of Rs. 4.36 Bn., shares worth Rs. 3.03 Bn. corresponding to 302,720,000 OCCRPS will be converted into 64,000,000 equity shares at the originally approved rate of Rs. 47.30 per equity share. Upon conversion, the promoter equity shareholding would increase to 70.58% from the present 65.60%.

This would enhance the long-term capital base of the Company and strengthen the leverage ratios

·           Consolidated Revenue for the quarter grew 176% from Rs. 2,714 Mn. for Q3 FY21 to Rs. 7,502 Mn. and 114% on a sequential quarter basis

·           At a consolidated level, cash and cash equivalents  as at the quarter end increased to Rs. 7,200 Mn, increase of 19% over in Sept quarter end reflecting the improved trading in Dec ‘21 Qtr

·           The Company continued its focus on cost prudence with reduced costs for Q3 FY22 at Rs. 2,786 Mn., registered 41% saving at pre pandemic levels in Q3 FY20

·           The Company’s focus on omni-channel delivery & rapid acceleration of its Digital initiatives, including its digital platforms and self-booking options, helped significantly enhance customer convenience and contactless sales-servicing during the period

Business Recovery Highlights (Q3 FY22 Vs Q3 FY21 and Q2 FY22):

o     Holidays: 701% growth in sales Vs Q3 FY21 and 152% growth Vs Q2 FY22 

o     Foreign Exchange: Strong turnover growth of 109% compared to Q3 FY21 and 48% Vs Q2 FY22

o     Corporate Travel: 272% growth in turnover Vs Q3 FY21 and 67% growth Vs Q2 FY22

o     MICE: 884% growth in sales Vs Q3 FY21 and 335% growth Vs Q2 FY22

o     Sterling Holidays: 86% growth in sales Vs Q3 FY21 and 54% Vs Q2 FY22

o     DEI: 141% growth in sales Vs Q3 FY21 and 74% Vs Q2 FY22

Mr. Madhavan Menon, Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India) Limited., said, “The Group’s performance for the quarter reflects the strong business recovery across Sterling Holidays, DEI, Desert Adventures (the Middle East based DMS company) and Thomas Cook India Limited. Recovery in profitability is also attributable to the sustained impact of cost saving efforts and efficiencies led by upgradation in technology. I am proud of our teams that made the most of the opportunity & leveraged the coming back of travel demand with the opening of borders, easing of travel restrictions and the comeback of customer confidence. We see strong demand heading into Summer 2022, and are looking forward to the season ahead.”

  Other updates:

·         Foreign Exchange:

o    The business delivered a strong QoQ with a 29% increase in transactions to 74,570 and a 72% increase vs Q3 FY20

o    The Retail turnover increased by 18%, Corporate turnover by 65%, Wholesale turnover by 56%, Airport turnover by 75% over Q2 FY22

o    Card loads at US$ 77.8 Mn. increased by 116% QoQ

 

·       MICE:

o    The business delivered a strong QoQ with a 335% increase in sales and a 884% increase Vs Q3 FY21

o    The Company’s MICE business in India successfully hosted over 280 groups/events (Virtual & Physical) with a total of over 10,000 travellers/attendees across India and international destinations like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Maldives and Paris

o    Corporate movements were successfully managed for global events like Expo 2020 Dubai, the T20 World Cup and Grand Prix-F1 at the Yas Marina Circuit

·      Corporate Travel:

o    Corporate Travel recorded a QoQ increase in turnover of 67% and a 272% increase Vs Q3 FY21

·       Leisure Travel:

o    The business delivered a strong QoQ with a 152% increase in sales and a 701% increase Vs Q3 FY 21

o    The Companies maximised the domestic cruise potential with over 2600 customers for the quarter

o    To accelerate demand, Thomas Cook & SOTC introduced special products/offers for the Festive Season, EXPO 2020 Dubai, Winter Holidays and honeymoons  

o    With strong consumer appetite for outdoor/adventure, the Companies introduced Safaris & Jungle Experiences

o    The demand for exclusive experiences saw launch of Undiscovered Antarctica Exploration

DEI Holdings Limited:  

Despite partial/complete lockdown in several geographies, Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging Ltd. (DEI) has made profit at EBIT level of Rs. 74 Mn. in Q3 FY22 as against loss of Rs. 77 Mn. in Q3 FY21 and Rs. 108 Mn. on sequential quarter basis.

•   DEI witnessed higher revenue numbers for Q3 FY22 Vs Q2 FY22, a result of increased footfalls across attractions in UAE, USA, India, Malaysia, Maldives and Indonesia, including new launches of attractions and on boarding of festive events in UAE

•   UAE generated US$4.5 Mn. revenue in December 2021. This is the highest revenue recorded by any country in a single month in the history of DEI

•   DEI signed 14 festive event contracts for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, which generated US$210K in revenue

•  The quarter also saw the opening of new partnerships like Expo 2020; National Aquarium Abu Dhabi; Sky Views Observatory and inside Burj Al Arab

•    DEI signed a partnership agreement with Centara Mirage Beach Resort in Dubai, thereby expanding The Blu Canvas (resort photography program) to 4 resorts in UAE

•    DEI renewed its imaging operation terms with 8 partners during the quarter: Ramoji Film City, Snow Kingdom, and Snow City in India; Wild Wadi and Jumeirah Beach Resort in UAE; Ski Egypt; Westin in Maldives; and Resort World Sentosa in Singapore.

DMS (Destination Management Service) Business:

The quarter witnessed sales improvement in select DMS entities backed by eased travel restrictions and increased vaccinations.

·         Dubai based DMS continued to see healthy Q3 FY22 sales due to the high season and Expo 2020 Dubai

·         CIS countries continued to generate good/sustained volumes, LATAM and EU markets showed pick-up due to travel relaxations; UK markets recorded reasonable recovery

·         The end of the quarter witnessed pickup of MICE business as well

·         Focus continues to remain on IT initiatives to enhance customer and supplier connectivity, operations automation using AI and robotics process automation.

·         Kenyan DMS entity sales for the Quarter continued to be encouraging primarily driven by FITs from UK and USA-Canada, and the new charter business from Romania. Other markets such as France, Germany and USA have also started to display gradual pickup.

·         Due to ongoing border/travel restrictions in most APAC countries business is highly limited

·         Aiming at increasing the online market turnover and leveraging economies of scale, a pilot online booking - B2B platform for multiple service types (Hotels, Transfers, Excursions, Flights, Tours) was launched in December for global customers travelling to South East Asia.

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

·         Sterling Holidays reported an 86% increase in Income from Operations at Rs. 953 Mn. in Q3 FY22 as against Rs. 511 Mn. in Q3 FY21 and profit has increased by 893% to Rs. 258 Mn. (EBIT) for Q3 FY22 Vs Rs. 26 Mn. in Q3 FY21. On a sequential basis income has increased 54% to Rs. 953 Mn. in Q3 FY22 from Rs. 618 Mn. in Q2 FY22 and profit has increased by 144% to Rs. 258 Mn. (EBIT) for Q3 FY22 from Rs. 106 Mn. in Q2 FY22.

The increase in income is largely due to a shorter span of lockdown in the current year compared to last year and the significant pent–up demand resulting in subsequent increase in room nights

·         Resort occupancy growth was higher at 62% in Q3 FY22 against 46% in Q2 FY22. The Average Room Rent also increased by 24% over the previous year

·         Resort revenues in Q3 FY22 reported healthy increase by 69% to Rs. 688 Mn. as compared to Rs. 406 Mn. in Q3 FY21 from higher occupancies and higher realization of room rates

·         Membership Units sold was higher at 11.63% in Q3 FY22 over the previous quarter

·         Guest Ratio increased to 60% from 54%

·         All resorts were operational in Q3 FY22. Expansions included 2 resorts; Lake Palace Allepey, Rudra Gir; Brownfield at Igatpuri signed. LOCAL Restobar launched across 6 resorts in West and South 

·         Undertook several initiatives to control costs including virtualization of acquisition processes and increase in membership sales from onsite locations, resulting in higher margin

Partnerships:

With an intent to capture a new set of consumers and enhance its product/business line, Thomas Cook & SOTC have inked key agreements during the quarter:

o    Signed a strategic agreement with Air Arabia to curate and distribute Air Arabia Holidays in India

o    Long term agreement signed with Vistara to launch Vistara Getaways

India Leisure Network expansion: 

Thomas Cook India opened 2 franchise outlets in Surat and Karnal; SOTC opened 3 franchise outlets in Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar and Ghaziabad to capitalise on high potential growth markets.

About Thomas Cook (India) Limited: Set up in 1881, Thomas Cook India) Limited. (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, Value Added Services, Visa and Passport services. It operates leading B2C and B2B brands including Thomas Cook, SOTC, TCI, SITA, Asian Trails, Allied T Pro, Australian Tours Management, Desert Adventures, Luxe Asia, Travel Circle International Limited (TCI 勝景遊), Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, Distant Frontiers, TC Tours, Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI), Go Vacation, 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 25 countries across 5 continents

TCIL s been felicitated with CNBC-TV18 & ICICI Lombard India Risk Management Award - Travel & Leisure Category 2021, The Best Travel Agency – India at TTG Travel Awards 2019, 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, Silver award for Asia's Best Integrated Report (First Time) category at the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards 2019, Best Risk Management-Framework & Systems at the India Risk Management Awards 2019; Best Cash Management Solution – India at the Asset Triple A Treasury, Trade, Supply Chain & Risk Management Awards 2018, Best Outbound Tour Operator at the SATTE Awards 2019, Excellence in Domestic Tour Operations at the SATTE Awards 2018, The French Ambassador’s Award for Exemplary Achievements in Visa Issuance – 2015 to 2019 and the Condé Nast Traveller – Readers’ Travel Awards from 2011 to 2019.

                                              

CRISIL has reaffirmed the rating on debt programmes and bank facilities of Thomas Cook (India) Limited - ‘CRISIL A+/Negative 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 65.60% 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 Subsidiaries of Thomas Cook (India) Limited:

Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of TCIL, is a leading Indian Leisure Hospitality company with 37 resorts across the country, providing a variety of offerings: Leisure holidays through FIT packages, Meetings & Conferences, Weddings, Reunions, Picnics and Holidays through Memberships.

SOTC Travel Limited, a 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.

Travel Corporation (India) Limited (TCI), a wholly owned subsidiary of TCIL, is the leading Destination Management Company in India that offers tailor-made travel and related services to India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Thomas Cook India Group holds 51% stake in DEI Holdings Limited (DEI), one of the world’s leading imaging solutions and services providers.

 

For more information, visit:

Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited: http://www.sterlingholidays.com 

SOTC Travel Limited: http://www.sotc.in 

 

About SOTC Travel: SOTC Travel Limited is a step-down subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings held through its Indian listed subsidiary, Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL). SOTC India is a leading travel and tourism company active across various travel segments including Leisure Travel, Incentive Travel and Business Travel and Foreign Exchange. SOTC was established in 1949. Since then, it has escorted millions of travellers across the globe for more than 70 years to various destinations around the world. A new age innovative holidaymaker, SOTC strives to make holidays a priority for every Indian. ‘We are for holidays’ and we want Indians to prioritize their holidays.