IRCTC share price gains 10% in two sessions on e-booking nod for 15 trains

IRCTC share price hit the upper circuit of 5% for the second consecutive session today after Indian Railways allowed booking of tickets online for some trains from May 11. The government has said it would start operations of 15 passenger trains (30 return journeys) from May 12. The government on Sunday said that railways would start operations with 15 trains from Tuesday.

The booking for these trains will be available only on IRCTC website.

Share price of IRCTC rose 5% or Rs 65 to Rs 1,367 against previous close of Rs 1302 in early trade on BSE. Total 2,623 shares changed hands amounting to turnover of Rs 35.88 lakh on BSE.

Market cap of the firm climbed to Rs 21,887 crore. There were only buyers and no sellers for the stock on BSE. IRCTC share price has gained 46% since the beginning of this year.  The stock trades higher than 5 day, 50 day, 20 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages.

The mid cap stock has gained  12.55% in the last 3 days. IRCTC share price fell to Rs 815 in March this year  the worst month for stock market ever as coronavirus roiled global markets.

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Since then,the stock has rallied 67% due to value buying and recovery rally in benchmark indices. On October 14 last year, the Indian Railways firm made its stock market debut with IRCTC share listing at Rs 644 on BSE and Rs 626 on NSE.

Of late, the firm has delivered a stellar performance on the earnings front. The ticketing arm of IRCTC reported a 179% rise in net profit at Rs 205.80 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019, against a net profit of Rs 73.59 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal on February 12 this year. On a sequential basis, profit grew 106.17% from Rs 99.82 crore in the September quarter of this fiscal. The stock had closed at 1,418.95 on the result day. Since the announcement of Q3 earnings, the IRCTC stock has risen 36%.

Also read: IRCTC Q3 profit zooms 179% to Rs 206 crore, revenue up 62%

IRCTC's net profit grew 14% for the half-year period ended September 30, 2019, while its total earnings from internet ticketing services jumped 80.8% to Rs 199.3 crore.

Prabhudas Liladhaer in its recent report post-budget included IRCTC stock in its top picks on back of its strong growth visibility and above-market growth rates.

"IRCTC is a monopolistic conglomerate with no comparable listed peer set & limited valuation history," it added in its research note.

IRCTC is the only entity authorised by Indian Railways to manufacture and distribute packaged drinking water (PDW) at all railway stations and on trains. It also provides food catering services to passengers on trains (mobile catering) and at stations (static catering).