Indians holidaying abroad drive MakeMyTrip's December quarter revenues, profit up 12%

MakeMyTrip Q3 FY25 results.

Indians are fueling travel demand in domestic destinations as well as in international locations, contributing to the revenues of online travel aggregator (OTA) MakeMyTrip in its FY25 December quarter earnings.

The company's profit increased 11.9 percent to $27.1, up from $24.2 million during the same period a year ago. Its revenue (as per International Financial Reporting Standards) grew by 26.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) to $267.4 million from $214.2 million in Q3 FY24.

Adjusted operating profit registered growth of 37.6 percent YoY and reached $46.0 million in Q3 FY25 compared to $33.4 million in Q3 FY24.

"Our international outbound business continues to grow at a fast pace. For Q3FY25, our international air ticketing revenue grew by over 32 percent YoY far outpacing industry growth. Similarly, our international hotels revenue grew by over 63 percent YoY making this one of our fastest growing business segments," company's management said during the earnings call.

Company's inbound bookings crossed over 1,000 room per day milestone during the quarter. The combination of inbound and outbound bookings growth will lead to an increase in the proportion of the international hotel business in the coming years, which currently stands at around 19 percent compared to 14.8 percent during the same quarter last year, the company said.

As a result of the improving mix of international hotels, on an overall basis, the international business now contributes around 25%, it added.

While Indian destinations continue to shine, many countries have made significant efforts to attract Indian travelers, Rajesh Magow, Group Chief Executive Officer, MakeMyTrip. "Our strong performance this quarter reflects these macro trends,” he added.

The company's gross bookings increased by 26.8 percent YoY in Q3 FY25 to $2,612.4 million.

In the December quarter, air ticketing revenue increased by 20 percent YoY to $93.8 million while hotels and packages revenue increased by 24.9 percent YoY to $121.9 million. Bus ticketing revenue increased by 31.3 percent YoY to $35.0 million in Q3 FY25.

In the domestic air market, while daily departures were broadly at similar levels as the last quarter, the market growth picked up to 9 percent YoY on a flown basis in the seasonally strong quarter, the management said. "We continue to grow slightly faster than the market with a continued over 30 percent share of the domestic flight ticketing market."

For the accommodation business, while October was a little slow due to the festivals, the season picked up in November and December on the back of the holiday season and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) and wedding-related demand. "We witnessed record check-ins in the last 10 days of December during the peak holiday season."

With the addition of more properties, MakeMyTrip sold room nights across more than 1,850 cities across the country compared to about 1,750 cities during the same quarter last year.

"This is more than double the pre-pandemic spread. This unmatched penetration is also helping us grow faster in Tier 3 cities. From a supply perspective also, we are witnessing more openings in Tier 2 and Tier 3, during 2024, 120 new hotels opened in the first 10 months, adding 8,000 rooms in the branded segment," the company said.

The OTA is adding more supply in religious destinations due to the boost in spiritual tourism.

"Spiritual tourism is emerging as one of the key growth drivers of tourism in India. To cater to the demand, we have enhanced supply depth in these emerging new cities on our platform and help such travelers easily find suitable properties by highlighting key aspects such as distance from pilgrimage sites, wheelchair accessibility, availability of lifts, and vegetarian food options. This segment is growing faster for us," the management said.

The company also highlighted the corporate travel business via myBiz and Quest 2 Travel.

"Our active corporate customer count on myBiz is now over 64,000 compared to 56,000 customers during the same quarter last year and for Quest 2 Travel the active customer count has reached 493 large corporates compared to 334 customers in the same quarter last year," the management said.