IRCTC share reduces Rs 1 lakh investment to Rs 50,000 within a month, heading toward IPO issue price

IRCTC share which was heading toward Rs 2,000 level at speed of a bullet train has taken a U turn as coronavirus infection roils global and domestic markets. The large cap stock is now approaching its IPO issue price with same speed. Share price of IRCTC was locked in lower circuit of 5% today after Indian Railways cancelled 433 trains yesterday as citizens avoid travel fearing spread of coronavirus pandemic.

IRCTC share price fell 5% to Rs 1,000 against previous close of Rs 1,052.70 on BSE. The stock has lost 50% from its all-time high of Rs 1,995 touched on Februray 25, 2020.

Rs 1 lakh invested into IRCTC stock on February 25 would have turned to Rs 50,125 today, thanks to jitters from the coronavirus pandemic which have roiled global markets.

63% tickets cancelled in Indian Railways in March due to coronavirus

IRCTC's market cap has declined to Rs 16,847 crore, almost half of Rs 31,200 crore, the firm's peak in February.

Share price of IRCTC, an arm of Indian Railways, has lost 18.54% in last four days days.

The stock opened at a loss of  5% at Rs 1,000.35 today. The large cap stock is trading lower than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages.

IRCTC stock, which hit an all-time high of Rs 1,995 on February 25 this year has lost 49.84% since then.

On Tuesday too, coronavirus led to cancellation of 85 trains in the country. According to officials, central railways cancelled 23 trains, south central railways cancelled 29 trains, western railways cancelled 10 trains, south eastern railways cancelled 9 trains, east coast and northern railways cancelled 5 trains each,  and north western railways cancelled 4 trains. The list includes some popular long haul trains.

Before the slide, IRCTC stock outperformed leaders across most sectors in the stock market. The stock rose 203% until February 25, 2020 compared to its listing price of Rs 644.

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. It delivered 511% returns compared to IPO issue price of Rs 320.

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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.

Analysts have been bullish on the prospects of the stock since the firm logged stellar performance in terms of earnings.

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.

An announcement by FM Nirmala Sitharaman in  Union Budget that India would get more trains like Tejas also led to positive sentiment around the stock. Healthy cash on books and the recent announcement of interim dividend of Rs 10 also helped the stock hit its all-time high on February 25.

By Aseem Thapliyal

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