IRCTC dips 5% after government sets OFS floor price at steep discount- QHN

Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) dipped 5 per cent to Rs 696.70 on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade after the government fixed floor price at Rs 680 per share for its stake sale in the tour and travel related services company via offer for sale (OFS).

The OFS for non-retail investors opens today, while for retail investors on Friday. The floor price for the OFS was set at a 7.4 per cent discount to Wednesday’s closing price of Rs 734.70.

IRCTC is the tourism and catering arm of the Indian Railways. At present, the government owns 67.4 per cent stake in IRCTC.

The proposed share sale will include up to 20 million equity shares of IRCTC, representing 2.5 per cent of the total issued and paid-up equity share capital, with the option to additionally sell 20 million shares (constituting 2.5 per cent paid-up share capital of the company in case of oversubscription), the company said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

A minimum of 25 per cent of the shares in OFS will be reserved for mutual funds and insurance companies; the rest 10 per cent will be set aside for retail investors.

Meanwhile, despite weaker than expected Q2 results results, analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher increased their EPS estimates by ~6-7 per cent over FY23-FY25E as they realign sales and margin assumptions for internet ticketing division given continued traction in non-convenience revenue.

“As FY23E is likely to witness majority of the benefits of catering price hike & rail neer expansion, growth challenges would emerge going ahead, given 2S reversal is already into effect now. Accordingly, we expect sales/PAT CAGR of 8%/9% respectively over FY23-FY25E,” the brokerage firm said in result update. They maintain their HOLD rating on the stock with a DCF based target price of Rs 679.

At 09:29 AM; IRCTC traded 4.6 per cent lower at Rs 701.15, as compared to 0.22 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.