Yatra Online Limited — Q3 FY26 earnings call

Call held 12 Feb 2026

Management summary

Yatra Online delivered strong Q3 FY26 results with significant growth in revenue, gross margin, and Adjusted EBITDA, despite industry-wide flight disruptions in December. The company saw robust performance in both Air Ticketing and Hotels & Packages, driven by new corporate client additions and B2C tech innovations. While PAT was impacted by a one-time charge and working capital increased due to MICE deferrals, management expects normalization and continued growth, reaffirming its FY26 guidance and setting ambitious ROCE targets.

Highlights

  • Revenue from operations grew 9% YoY to INR 2,568 million, driven by steady demand across key segments.

  • Gross margin rose 23% YoY to INR 1,277 million, driven by better direction in air-booking and continued momentum in hotels and packages.

  • Adjusted EBITDA surged 41% YoY to INR 247 million, translating to a healthy 19.34% adjusted EBITDA to gross margin ratio.

  • Air Ticketing gross bookings grew 22% YoY, with take rates improving from 6.2% to 7.1% due to a B2C-focused quarter.

  • Onboarded 40 new corporate clients with an annual billing potential of Rs 2.2 billion, and 8 new customers for the expense management solution.

Concerns

  • December disruption due to stricter flight duty travel limitation norms led to operational challenges, cancellations, and delays across the industry.

  • Profit after tax declined 17% YoY to INR 83 million, largely due to a one-time charge of INR 38 million related to implementation of new labor codes.

  • Temporary impact on MICE and corporate events sub-segment with bookings deferred to Q4 FY26 and Q1 FY27, leading to incremental working capital deployment of INR 35-40 crores.

Key financials

  1. Revenue from Operations 2,568 Mn +9%YoY
  2. Gross Margin 1,277 Mn +23%YoY
  3. Adjusted EBITDA 247 Mn +41%YoY
  4. Adjusted EBITDA to Gross Margin Ratio 19.3%
  5. Profit After Tax 83 Mn -17%YoY

What they filed

Q1 FY27: revenue down 10.4%, net profit down 97.9% against the same quarter last year.

₹ Cr · quarterly
Line itemQ2 FY25Q3 FY25Q4 FY25Q1 FY26Q2 FY26Q3 FY26Q4 FY26Q1 FY27
Revenue236 235 219 210 351 +48%257 +9%189 −14%188 −10%
EBITDA9 14 17 23 24 +160%23 +66%11 −36%12 −46%
Net profit7 10 15 16 14 +96%8 −17%8 −46%0 −98%
How to read this

₹ crore, as filed. The percentage beside a figure is the change against the same quarter a year earlier — never the quarter before, which would make every seasonal business look like it collapses and booms each year.

Segment breakdown

Share of Gross Bookings
21,237 Mn Total
  • Air Ticketing 16,931 Mn 79.7%
  • Hotels and Packages 4,306 Mn 20.3%

Capital allocation

high confidence
  • Debt Gross ₹583 Mn
    Gross debt has marginally increased from INR 546 million as of 31st March 2025 to INR 583 million as of 31st December 2025.
  • Liquidity Cash ₹2,005.51 Mn Overdraft facilities with banks were used to fund the incremental working capital deployed during the quarter.
    On the liquidity front, cash and cash equivalent and term deposits stood at INR 2,005.51 million as of 31st December 2025. ... We do have overdraft facilities with the banks. And those are what we have dipped into during this period.

Guidance & targets

Profitability

  • Revenue-less Service Cost (RLSC) Growth Profitability · FY26 · High confidence 0.22
    we had given a revised guidance of about 22% growth on revenue-less service cost

    — Siddhartha Gupta

  • Adjusted EBITDA Growth Profitability · FY26 · High confidence 0.375
    and around 37.5% growth on the adjusted EBITDA

    — Siddhartha Gupta

  • Revenue-less Service Cost (RLSC) Profitability · FY26 · High confidence INR 4728 million
    that revised guidance would have expected us to do about INR 4728 million overall on RLSC

    — Siddhartha Gupta

  • Adjusted EBITDA Profitability · FY26 · High confidence INR 917 million
    and INR 917 million on adjusted EBITDA.

    — Siddhartha Gupta

  • ROCE Profitability · next year · High confidence double digits

    Previously 4% odd → double digits

    Our target for next year would be to get the ROCE in double digits. That's what we are focused on... from 4% odd of ROCE last year, we will end up somewhere close to about 7% of ROCE in the current year and we will see a similar kind of improvement in the next year as well.

    — Dhruv Shringi

Volume

  • Gross Booking Growth Volume · next 2-3 years · Medium confidence early 20s
    we would expect gross booking growth to be in the range of early 20s.

    — Dhruv Shringi

  • Air Booking Growth Volume · next 2-3 years · Medium confidence 0.15-0.20
    we would see air growing between 15 and 20

    — Dhruv Shringi

  • Hotels Booking Growth Volume · next 2-3 years · Medium confidence upwards of 0.25
    and we would expect hotels to grow upwards of 25.

    — Dhruv Shringi

Margin

  • EBITDA Margin as % of Gross Bookings Margin · FY28 · High confidence 1.1% to 1.2%
    by FY28, we are currently at about 1.1% to 1.2%. That's where we are trending at the moment. We see strong operating leverage in the business as we have demonstrated. I do not see a reason for us to not get to that in FY28.

    — Dhruv Shringi

  • MICE Contribution Margin Margin · High confidence north of 50%
    it's a business with contribution margins in excess of 50%.

    — Dhruv Shringi

  • MICE EBITDA Margin Margin · Medium confidence late 20s-30s
    EBITDA would be almost late 20s-30s.

    — Dhruv Shringi

  • Payment Gateway Contribution Margin Margin · Medium confidence upwards of almost 55%-60%
    Approximately, this would have upwards of almost 55%-60% contribution margin.

    — Dhruv Shringi

Revenue

  • Expense Management Solution Revenue Revenue · FY27 · Medium confidence INR 5-7 crores
    we think in FY27, we will add between INR 5 crores to INR 7 crores of revenue from here.

    — Dhruv Shringi

What to watch in Q4 FY26

MICE Business Roll-over

Q4 FY26
Current Significant portion deferred from Q3 FY26
Target 70-75% of deferred MICE business transacted

Why it matters

This deferred revenue is expected to boost Q4 performance, indicating recovery from Q3 disruptions.

we are fairly confident that in the range of 70% to 75% of businesses for sure coming into Q4.

Risks & concerns

  • December Flight Disruptions

    medium

    Stricter flight duty travel limitation norms led to operational challenges, cancellations, and delays, impacting Q3 revenue and MICE deferrals.

    Management acknowledged

  • Working Capital Deployment

    medium

    INR 35-40 crores of extra working capital deployed due to MICE advances and entity amalgamation, funded by overdrafts. Normalization expected by end of March.

    Both acknowledged

  • US Holding Structure Collapse

    medium

    Ongoing efforts to collapse the US structure and simplify holding, which consumes management bandwidth.

    Both acknowledged

  • AI Disruption to OTA Business

    low

    Management sees AI as an opportunity for B2B (differentiation, personalization) and a need to partner with AI platforms for B2C demand generation, rather than a direct threat.

    Analyst downplayed

Q&A highlights

7 direct
Air Segment Growth & B2C Focus Direct
in terms of our Air business, we have seen growth both across B2C and on the corporate side. On the corporate side, it's more a question of new customer additions which have been done and there is volume benefit... In terms of B2C, there is some tech innovation work that we have been working towards which is helping us drive demand with positive unit economics.

Clarifies the drivers of strong air segment growth, attributing it to both corporate new customer additions and B2C tech innovations for profitable unit economics, indicating a balanced growth strategy.

Asked by Anmol Garg

Expense Management Solution & Corporate Card Platform Adoption Partial
in terms of the expense management solution, our focus is two-pronged on this. One, to use this as a retention tool and two, to use this as a tool where we are able to get a foot in the door... we think in FY27, we will add between INR 5 crores to INR 7 crores of revenue from here. ... On the corporate card, it is still relatively early days... we had, I think, one incremental customer that has moved on the card platform at this point of time.

Provides early revenue guidance for a new strategic offering (expense management) and acknowledges slow adoption for the corporate card platform, indicating areas of focus and challenge.

Asked by Keshav Sureka

AI Threat to OTAs & US Structure Collapse Direct
we do not see Al as a risk from a corporate platform point of view... On the B2C side, our focus is on seeing how do we partner better with the Al platforms... In terms of the U.S. collapse... It continues to remain a key priority for us.

Addresses a macro industry concern (AI disruption) by differentiating its impact on B2B (opportunity) vs B2C (partnering focus) and reiterates the ongoing priority of resolving the US holding structure.

Asked by Biplab Debbarma

Offline vs Online Corporate Travel Adoption Direct
From a macro India point of view, less than 20% of it is online. A vast majority of India business travel still continues to be transacted offline. For Yatra, we are at about 70% adoption... our sense is that from an adoption point of view, we will continue to see improved adoption on the online platform, and it will stabilize somewhere between 80%-85%.

Provides a clear market context for online penetration in corporate travel and Yatra's current adoption rate, along with a future target, highlighting a significant growth runway.

Asked by Hardik Doshi

Working Capital Deployment & Funding Direct
in this quarter, we had somewhere between INR 35 to 40 crores of extra working capital getting deployed... we had to bite this bullet... we have cash which is deployed in fixed deposits. So, it does not make sense for a short period of time for us to break the fixed deposits. We do have overdraft facilities with the banks. And those are what we have dipped into during this period.

Explains the temporary increase in working capital due to specific Q3 events (MICE deferrals, entity amalgamation) and how it was funded, reassuring investors about liquidity management.

Asked by Sumukh

B2E vs B2C Mix & MICE Profitability Direct
our focus remains squarely on the B2E side of things. So corporate is where we have pivoted our business and that will continue to be the focus area... MICE is a very margin accretive business because from a margin point of view, overall take rate point of view, it's a product with between 9%-10% kind of gross take rate... it's a business with contribution margins in excess of 50%.

Reaffirms the strategic focus on the higher-margin B2E segment and clarifies the strong profitability of the MICE business, despite its temporary disruption in Q3.

Asked by Pratik

Corporate Hotel Adoption & International Expansion Direct
we retooled our entire platform, was to open out corporate rates as well... we are seeing strong traction and that's why you have been seeing hotels growing at upwards of 30%... international presence is also very important... We do want to become at least in the first step a regional player over the course of the next couple of years.

Details the strategy for increasing corporate hotel adoption (offering both corporate and retail rates) and outlines the long-term ambition for regional international expansion.

Asked by Gunjan Kabra

ROCE Targets & Operating Expenses Direct
Our target for next year would be to get the ROCE in double digits... from 4% odd of ROCE last year, we will end up somewhere close to about 7% of ROCE in the current year and we will see a similar kind of improvement in the next year as well. ... the payment gateway had some one-time effect of the cancellations... we had to refund the full convenience fee as well. So, we were left absorbing the payment gateway cost.

Provides specific ROCE targets for the current and next fiscal year, highlighting it as a key focus area, and explains a one-time impact on payment gateway charges affecting operating expenses.

Asked by Sonal

2 min read 6 chapters

Detailed narrative

Q3 FY26 Performance Overview

Yatra Online reported a robust Q3 FY26 with revenue from operations growing 9% YoY to INR 2,568 million and gross margin increasing 23% YoY to INR 1,277 million. Adjusted EBITDA surged 41% YoY to INR 247 million, translating to a healthy 19.34% adjusted EBITDA to gross margin ratio. However, PAT declined 17% YoY to INR 83 million, largely due to a one-time charge of INR 38 million related to new labor codes.

Corporate Travel Momentum & New Initiatives

The corporate and MICE businesses continued strong performance, onboarding 40 new corporate clients with an annual billing potential of Rs 2.2 billion. The newly launched expense management solution gained traction with 8 new customers, expected to contribute INR 5-7 crores in revenue by FY27. Management highlighted the strategic importance of digitizing travel procurement via AI platforms for end-to-end automation and cost savings, positioning Yatra as a leader in online adoption.

B2C Business Turnaround & Air Segment Strength

The B2C business has 'turned the corner' and is growing with profitable unit economics, supported by tech innovations driving better conversion and upsell opportunities. The Air Ticketing segment saw gross bookings grow 22% YoY to INR 16,931 million, with passenger volume up 14% YoY, and take rates improving from 6.2% to 7.1%. This growth was achieved despite industry-wide disruptions in December due to stricter flight duty travel limitation norms.

Hotels & Packages Growth and Margin Improvement

The Hotels and Packages segment reported 22% YoY growth in hotel room nights to 508,000 and 20% YoY growth in gross bookings to INR 4,306 million. Gross margins expanded 25% YoY to INR 438 million, with margins improving from 9.7% to 10.17%. The company is leveraging its extensive hotel inventory and platform retooling to drive corporate hotel adoption, offering both corporate and retail rates to customers.

Working Capital Impact and MICE Deferrals

Q3 saw a temporary deployment of INR 35-40 crores in extra working capital due to MICE advances and entity amalgamation, funded by overdraft facilities. A significant portion (70-75%) of MICE bookings deferred from Q3 due to December flight disruptions are expected to roll over into Q4 FY26, with normalization of working capital anticipated by the end of March. Management clarified that MICE is a highly margin-accretive business with contribution margins north of 50%.

Strategic Outlook & ROCE Focus

Yatra reiterated its FY26 guidance for 22% RLSC growth and 37.5% Adjusted EBITDA growth, confirming it is 'firmly on track.' The company aims for double-digit ROCE by next year, up from approximately 7% in the current year, driven by high incremental ROCE of over 30% per new corporate customer. Long-term gross booking growth is projected in the 'early 20s' for the next 2-3 years, with air growing 15-20% and hotels upwards of 25%.

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