MakeMyTrip grows Q3 topline 15%; Founder Deep Kalra steps down as CEO

Gurugram and New York-based online travel company MakeMyTrip posted a 14.9% growth in its earnings for the quarter ended December 31, 2019. The Nasdaq-listed firm’s topline grew to $206.7 million from $179.9 million in the previous year.

The revenue growth came from gross bookings -- the total amount received by the company from its travel services and product bookings -- that increased 18.8% during the quarter to $1.7 billion.

MakeMyTrip’s hotel business, which constitutes around 50% of the total revenue, grew 11% in Q3, while its flight booking and bus ticketing operations rose 17% and 38%, respectively. 

The company also cut its losses by half in Q3. It posted a net loss of $11 million in Q3 against $22.2 million in the same quarter a year ago, showing an improvement of $11.2 million, a statement said.  

Although the company increased spending on hotel and packaging services and staff costs, it cut back on marketing and advertising costs. 

As on December 31, 2019, the company’s cash balance was at $221.3 million.

“The MakeMyTrip Group continued to achieve record quarterly bookings despite a challenging growth environment and weak consumer demand. We remain focused on delivering greater value and better experience for our users and suppliers, resulting in additional market share gains across all our key business segments,” Deep Kalra, the company’s group executive chairman, said. “At the same time, we continued to optimise our marketing and sales promotion spends to deliver improved operational efficiencies and provide greater long-term value for stakeholders.”

Top-level rejig

Separately, MakeMyTrip has split the position of group CEO and executive chairman to “strengthen its focus on long-term strategic opportunities within and outside India”. Kalra will retain the position of group executive chairman, while Rajesh Magow, co-founder of MakeMyTrip and currently the India head, will be elevated as group CEO. 

As per the arrangement, Kalra will focus on pursuing strategic initiatives, including product innovation and expansion, geographic growth, business model innovation and corporate development. On the other hand,  Magow will focus on growing the existing business.

In September last year, Chinese travel company Ctrip acquired South African technology conglomerate Naspers’ entire stake in MakeMyTrip. The company is a competitor of Ebix-backed online travel agency Yatra, along with SoftBank-backed hospitality major OYO and online home rental and tourism experience marketplace Airbnb.