Yatra Online Ltd. posted a dramatic deterioration in its financial performance during the first quarter of FY27 and consolidated net profit fell 97.9% year-on-year to ₹33 lakh from ₹15.9 crore in the previous quarter.
The company’s revenue also declined in Q1. Consolidated revenue fell 10.4 percent to ₹188 crore from ₹210 crore in Q1 of this year. On the surface the decline in revenue indicates weaker business activity during this quarter and also affects the company’s overall profitability.
Operating performance was also poor. EBITDA dropped 46.3 percent to ₹12.4 crore from ₹23.1 crore a year earlier. Yatra Online faced pressure not only from lower revenue but also from its ability to make money from its operations as operating profit fell.
Yatra’s EBITDA margin fell by 440 basis points to 6.6% from 11% in the year-ago period. Margin compression of this magnitude is a major concern since it indicates that profitability weakened much faster than revenue.
The nearly 98% drop in net profit therefore stood out as the biggest takeaway from Yatra Online's Q1 FY27 results. While revenue declined by around 10%, the much sharper fall in EBITDA and net profit suggest operating leverage and other expenses were a big driver of the bottom line.
The results are occurring at a time when India’s online travel market is highly competitive and travel platforms are fiercely competitive in the form of flights, hotels, holiday packages as well as corporate travel services. Companies in the sector also have to balance customer acquisition and promotional spend with profitability.
Investors will now be watching to see if Yatra can grow revenue (and thus operating margins and profits in the last three quarters of FY27), and if so, how. It will be particularly important to see EBITDA margins return to levels where growth in earnings can continue as a whole and to be able to restore confidence that the company is going to be able to sustain them.
Yatra Online’s Q1 FY27 numbers are a tough picture. Net profit went down 97.9% to ₹33 lakh, revenue dropped 10.4% to ₹188 crore, EBITDA fell 46.3% to ₹12.4 crore and EBITDA margin fell to 6.6%. All business volumes and operating efficiency need to come together to reverse the decline.
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