IRCTC share price gains 3% after Q4 earnings defy coronavirus lockdown

IRCTC share price gained in early trade today after the ticketing arm of Indian Railways announced earnings for Q4 of FY 20. The Indian Railways firm reported a 79.3 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 150.6 crore in Q4 of last fiscal against Rs 84 crore in the year-ago period. However, on sequential terms net profit fell 26.6 per cent drop compared to Rs 206 crore net profit hit by coronavirus-led lockdown.

Share price of IRCTC gained 3% to Rs 1,443 intra day against previous close of Rs 1,401 on BSE. The stock opened with a gain of 2.93% at Rs 1,443 today. The large cap stock is trading higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages.

However, the share erased gains to trade flat in afternoon trade. At 12:34 pm, the stock rose 0.38% to Rs 1,407 on BSE. Market cap of IRCTC  stood at to Rs 22,520 crore on BSE.  Total 1.28 lakh shares changed hands amounting to turnover of Rs 18.16 crore.

The stock has gained 50% since the beginning of this year. IRCTC share price fell to a low of Rs 815 on March 25 this year during the worst month for stock market ever as coronavirus roiled global markets.

Since then, the stock has rallied nearly 77% due to value buying and resumption of railway services on a partial basis. The stock rose to all time high of Rs 1, 995 on February 25 and lost 59% within one month.

Coronavirus lockdown helps Railways create history; achieves 100% punctuality rate

On an annual basis, the Indian Railways firm reported a sharp jump of 71.3 per cent in its net profit at Rs 528.57 crore for the full financial year ended March 31, 2020, helped by broad-based growth across all sectors. The company posted net profit of Rs 308.56 crore in the financial year 2018-19.

IRCTC FY20 results: Profit jumps 71% to Rs 528.57 crore, revenue up 20%

For the financial year 2020 (FY20), IRCTC posted total revenue of Rs 2,353.53 crore as against Rs 1,958.93 in the financial year 2018-19, registering a year-on-year growth of 20.14 per cent.

On June 24, IRCTC said it has postponed board meeting for considering financial statements for quarter ended March 2020 and FY20 due to unavoidable circumstances.

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. Bids for IRCTC shares were invited in a price band of Rs 315 to Rs 320 during the IPO held from September 30 to October 3.

The issue involved sale of 2.01 crore equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each in a price band of Rs 315 to Rs 320. The IPO was subscribed nearly 111.80 times on the last day of bidding. The IPO received bids for 225.39 crore shares compared to the issue size of 2.01 crore shares.

Indian Railways announces major changes in special trains' schedule; here's all you need to know