Yatra Online Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Yatra’s financial performance weakened: Fiscal Q2 revenue fell 39% year over year to INR 2,136 million, and adjusted EBITDA swung to a INR 32 million loss, partly due to higher expenses including costs tied to an unsolicited tender offer.
• Business results diverged by segment: Total gross bookings rose 6% to INR 21,655 million, with air ticketing bookings up 15% and corporate travel bookings up about 18%; however, MICE bookings plunged 63% amid cost pressures and geopolitical uncertainty.
• Some signs of recovery and investment: MICE bookings increased 37% sequentially and entered Q3 with a stronger order book, while Yatra continued investing in technology and growth initiatives including TravelPro, RECAP, and its Kanoo partnership.

Yatra Online NASDAQ: YTRA reported lower revenue and an adjusted operating loss for its fiscal second quarter, as a decline in corporate group travel offset growth in its air ticketing, standalone hotel and corporate travel businesses.

Revenue from operations fell 39% year over year to INR 2,136 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, CFO Anuj Sethi said on the company’s earnings call. Gross margin, which Yatra defines as revenue less service costs, remained flat at INR 1,255 million.

Adjusted EBITDA swung to a loss of INR 32 million from a positive INR 212 million a year earlier. CEO Siddhartha Gupta attributed the weaker result in part to higher expenses, including costs related to a recent unsolicited tender offer.

Travel Demand and MICE Pressure Results

Executive Chairman Dhruv Shringi said the travel market’s near-term performance varied by category and destination. Conflict in West Asia, higher fuel costs and airfares, and depreciation of the rupee have weighed on overseas travel affordability, particularly for long-haul trips, he said.

Gupta said domestic air passenger traffic declined approximately 6% year over year and nearly 16% sequentially. International passenger traffic for Indian carriers fell approximately 19% from a year earlier, while average domestic ticket prices rose approximately 26% and international fares increased around 20%, he said.

Yatra’s total gross bookings nevertheless rose approximately 6% year over year to INR 21,655 million. Gupta said the company’s air passenger volumes fell approximately 2.4%, outperforming the domestic market. He also said Yatra’s domestic passenger volumes rose approximately 4% sequentially, against an industry decline of nearly 15%.

The company’s meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, or MICE, business faced a sharper downturn. Gupta said MICE gross bookings fell approximately 63% year over year as corporate customers shifted from large international programs to smaller groups amid higher costs and geopolitical uncertainty. The comparison also reflected a particularly strong quarter a year earlier, he said.

MICE bookings improved approximately 37% from the preceding quarter, and the business entered the third quarter with a stronger order book, Gupta said. He cautioned that margins remain under pressure.

Air and Corporate Bookings Grow

Air ticketing gross bookings increased 15% year over year to INR 17,006 million, while air gross margin rose 29% to INR 757 million, Sethi said. Air gross margin as a percentage of bookings improved to 4.45% from 3.95%.

Gupta said corporate travel gross bookings increased approximately 18%, helped by more business from existing clients and new accounts. Approximately 54% of existing customers expanded their business with Yatra, and 177 new corporate customers went live during the fiscal year, he said.

Standalone hotel gross bookings grew approximately 20% year over year, according to Gupta. The broader Hotels and Packages segment, which includes MICE, reported a 21% decline in gross bookings to INR 4,054 million and a 34% decline in gross margin to INR 299 million, Sethi said.

Expenses and Growth Investments

Gupta said other expenses rose approximately $2.7 million year over year, with nearly half of the increase attributable to legal, regulatory and professional advisory costs connected to the unsolicited tender offer and related matters. Much of the remainder came from higher affiliate commissions as the partner business grew; he said that business continued to generate a positive contribution margin.

The company incurred approximately INR 52 million in costs during the quarter for initiatives including technology infrastructure, international expansion through Kanoo, and its RECAP and TravelPro offerings, Gupta said.

TravelPro, which targets small and midsize businesses, secured more than 30 customer closures in the quarter, representing approximately INR 825 million in annual business potential, Gupta said. RECAP, an expense-management offering, had 25 customer wins, with eight live and another five approaching implementation. The Kanoo partnership had begun generating revenue and was contributing positively at the operating level, he said.

For the first half of fiscal 2027, revenue declined 28% to INR 4,015 million, while gross margin rose 3% to INR 2,482 million, Sethi said. Adjusted EBITDA fell 56% to INR 184 million. Cash, cash equivalents and term deposits stood at INR 2,304 million at September 30.

Sethi reported a quarterly net loss of INR 22.3 million and described it as approximately $2.3 million. Those figures are inconsistent with the other currency conversions provided on the call.

About Yatra Online (NASDAQ:YTRA)

Yatra Online, Inc. is an India-focused online travel company that operates the Yatra platform. Through its website and mobile application, the company enables customers to research, compare and book air tickets, hotels, holiday packages, buses, trains, activities and other travel-related services. The company serves individual travelers as well as corporate customers. Its corporate travel offering, Yatra for Business, provides travel booking and management services for organizations, while its consumer platform offers travel products in India and access to international destinations through airline, hotel and other travel suppliers.

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