• Five percent Jump in IRCTC Shares After It Issues Tender For Monetizing Digital Assets

    Business
    Five percent  Jump in IRCTC Shares After It Issues Tender For Monetizing Digital Assets
    IRCTC, Indian Railways' online ticketing service, increased by as much as 5% to reach an intraday high of Rs 747.65. 

    Digital Desk: IRCTC Share Price: On the BSE, shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the company that manages Indian Railways' online ticketing, increased by as much as 5% to reach an intraday high of Rs. 747.65. 

    The stock increased by around 10.5% in just the last two trading sessions, whereas the S&P BSE Sensex only increased by 0.1% during this time.

    Technically speaking, the stock has increased by more than 16% so far in August and is currently within striking distance of its 200-DMA (Daily Moving Average), which is located around Rs 748. Since the end of April 2022, the stock has been trading below its 200-DMA.

    IRCTC, the Indian Railways ticketing division, is making a ground-breaking initiative to monetize its database of customer information while doing business with both private and public entities. 

    Through this activity, the business hopes to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore. As the only platform for selling railroad tickets in the nation, IRCTC possesses a vast database of information about every online ticket ever created.

    The company claimed Indian Railways collected significant volumes of data, offering "great scope" for monetization, in the ad requesting applications from consultants.

    Indian Railways stated in the tender it issued last month that it "desires to monetize the data in customer/vendor applications and internal applications of Indian Railways...for earning profits and also to promote facilitation and further improve the services."

    "IRCTC seeks to employ a consultancy firm to assist in identifying, designing, developing, and implementing prospects for data monetization."

    The application party was also instructed to research "various Acts or Laws including IT Act 2000 and its Amendments, User data privacy laws including GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), and current 'Personal Data Protection Bill 2018 of India, and accordingly, propose the business models for monetization of Digital Assets," it was further stated.

    Rajni Hasija, the chairperson and managing director of the company, stated in a recent earnings call that IRCTC was concentrating more on non-convenience fee resources in addition to convenience fee resources (for revenue generation), and that "one key driver will be... encashing the presence of IRCTC in the Internet and the monetization of digital assets...we have floated the tender for that, so we are hoping for some good results."

    IRCTC recorded a 196% increase in net profit for the quarter ending June 2022 (Q1FY23), coming in at Rs 246 crore as opposed to Rs 82.50 crore in the same quarter a year prior. To Rs 853 crore, total income increased by 251% year over year.

    "Given the revenue beat, we boost our top-line expectations by 5.8 / 6.3 % for FY23/FY24 as we re-align our catering business assumptions," the company said. 

    We anticipate that ticket sales will be closely monitored in the near future as the 2S class reversal will take effect in July, according to a letter from Prabhudas Lilladher's Jinesh Joshi and Shweta Shekhawat.

    "The stock is now trading at 54 times our FY24E EPS estimate of Rs12.5" "We now have a HOLD rating on the company and a target price of Rs 649," he explained.