Latest news with #Indian market
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Reliance enters joint venture with Naturedge Beverages
Reliance Consumer Products, the consumer brands division of India's Reliance Industries has acquired a majority stake in a joint venture with functional drinks maker Naturedge Beverages. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. In a statement, Reliance's consumer arm said the joint venture will look to offer consumers a selection of "herbal-natural beverages", bolstering its 'presence as a total beverage company'. The group added that the healthy functional beverage sector offers a 'large and rapidly expanding opportunity' fuelled by "strong" consumer movement towards "healthier, natural alternatives". In the same statement, Ketan Mody, executive director of Reliance Consumer Products, said the venture 'strengthens our beverage portfolio with the addition of health-focused functional drinks, inspired by Ayurveda." Naturedge Beverages, founded in 2018 by Siddhesh Sharma of the Baidyanath Group, specialises in better-for-you drinks inspired by the holisitic medicine system Ayuverda. Mody added: 'Within a very short span of time, Shunya has gained wide popularity among health-conscious consumers' and 'also fits perfectly' with the company's vision. Naturedge's flagship product, Shunya, is a zero-sugar, zero-calorie beverage infused with Indian herbs such as Ashwagandha and Brahmi. The business also makes ready-to-drink functional shots under the Armr brand. Commenting on the deal, co-founder Sharma said: 'The partnership with RCPL is a testament of Shunya's rapidly growing acceptability among consumers. With our visions aligned on turning Shunya into a pan-India brand that caters to consumers love for herbal-natural functional beverages that are refreshing and fun-filled at the same time, this is a win-win for us." The joint venture will enable the Shunya brand to be available to consumers across the country using Reliance's "wide network of distribution and supply chain", Sharma added. In July, Reliance Industries reportedly announced plans to set up a new subsidiary for its consumer-facing brands. According to a report from India's Economic Times at the time, Reliance Industries aimed to draw a new pool of investors to its FMCG portfolio by presenting the business as a standalone entity, instead of keeping it embedded within its broader retail operations. At the time Reuters said India's National Company Law Tribunal had approved the restructuring exercise, according to a document cited by the news agency and dated 25 June. 'This is a large business by itself requiring specialised and focused attention, expertise and different skill sets as compared to retail business,' Reliance Industries said in its request for approval to the Tribunal, the document quoted by Reuters said. It added: 'This business also entails large capital investments on an on-going basis and can attract a different set of investors.' The creation of the new subsidiary business unit will involve the transfer of the company's consumer brands from its existing retail arm, according to Reuters, which baked the observation made by the Economic Times. "Reliance enters joint venture with Naturedge Beverages" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Skift
11-08-2025
- Business
- Skift
Yatra Is Betting on Corporate Bookings to Steady Profits: What the Numbers Say
Yatra is trading some headline consumer volume for steadier, higher-value corporate bookings. The last quarter shows early signs that the shift is working. Indian online travel company Yatra plans to grow its corporate travel business further. Whole Time Director and CEO Dhruv Shringi said the strategy for the company would be to focus on higher-value, repeat corporate customers rather than price-driven leisure traffic. For the quarter ended June 30, Yatra reported a stronger share of gross bookings coming from its B2B business. Shringi said roughly 67% of gross bookings came from B2B and that the share could move toward 70% by the end of the fiscal year. Yatra is trying to make its platform part of corporate customers' routines. That creates what Shringi called 'switching costs,' which means extra effort for a company to move away once they're integrated. He noted that most competitors still serve companies in an offline way. Yatra says it has deeper technical integration with customers and higher online penetration. This, the company argues, gives it an edge as companies digitize travel processes. 'Most of our competitors still service customers in the offline manner with minimal amount of integration. That is why there is a large opportunity for us right now to go and penetrate the digital adoption that's happening in mass across the industry,' Shringi said at the earnings call on Monday. Last year, Yatra announced its acquisition of Globe All India Services (Globe Travels), a corporate travel services provider, for INR 1.28 billion ($15.25 million) in cash. Long-Term Clients and Stickiness Long-standing corporate customers are central to Yatra's strategy. Shringi noted the tenure among big clients as evidence of the company's stickiness. 'If I look at our top 100 customers, 73 of those have been with us for more than five years,' he said. Those relationships, the company believes, deliver predictable revenue and operating leverage once technical integrations are in place. While online travel platforms chased consumers with discounts and marketing, Yatra flipped the script. 'Our annual retention rate (for corporate travel) is upwards of 97%,' he added. 'That's what gives us this kind of high operating leverage in the business.' What is Driving Profits? Shringi pointed to two main drivers of margin improvement. First, Yatra reduced direct discounting to customers. Instead of heavy price cuts, the company relied more on offers delivered through banks and marketing partners. That lowered Yatra's cost of acquiring customers. Second, the business mix shifted toward higher-margin products: corporate airfares, hotels and packages. 'Hotels and packages have net margins closer to about 11% compared to about 3%-4% net margin for air. Our mix of hotels and packages, year over year, has changed from about 15% to about 20% of gross bookings,' he said. Those changes helped push the company's net margin and revenue-after-cost measures higher than the raw growth in gross bookings. Financial Results and Growth Levers Yatra reported a year-over-year rise in gross bookings of about 9% for the quarter, reversing earlier declines in overall volume. The recovery was uneven: air ticketing improved modestly, while hotels and packages grew faster. The company is leaning on cross-selling hotels to corporate customers as an immediate growth lever. Several recent corporate wins were 'hotel-led,' meaning customers first used Yatra for hotels, which then opened doors to broader travel services. Hotels and packages are currently the higher-margin, easier-to-cross-sell products for Yatra. On the quarter's key numbers: Revenue from operations grew by 108% year-on-year to INR 2.1 billion ($24 million) in the first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA surged 138% year-on-year to INR 249 million ($2.8 million). The company's net profit was up 296% compared to the same period last year to INR 160 million ($1.8 million). The company continued to expand its corporate client base and closed 34 new corporate accounts during the quarter with a potential annual billing of INR 2 billion ($23 million). What am I looking at? The performance of travel tech stocks within the ST 200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including both online travel booking companies and B2B travel tech companies. The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more travel tech financial sector performance. Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
H.C. Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating on Yatra Online (YTRA) Stock
Yatra Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:YTRA) is one of the Best Indian Stocks to Buy for Next 5 Years. Analyst Scott Buck of H.C. Wainwright reiterated a 'Buy' rating on the company's stock, while retaining a price objective of $3.00. The analyst's rating is backed by a combination of factors demonstrating Yatra Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:YTRA)'s robust performance and growth potential. The company showcased significant strength in its corporate travel and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) segments, offsetting the weaker trends in the B2C sector. A passenger gazing out the airplane window, taking in the sights of her journey. Yatra Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:YTRA) onboarded 35 new corporate clients in Q4 2025, fueling its annual billing potential significantly. The acquisition of Globe Travels strengthened Yatra Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:YTRA)'s position, which enabled it to target for top-three spot in the broader Indian MICE market ahead of schedule. The growth opportunities in this market offer the company a unique opportunity to tap more market share. Yatra Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:YTRA) ended FY 2025 on a strong footing, delivering revenue for 3 months to March 31, 2025 of INR2,192.5 million (US$25.7 million), up by 114.0% YoY. This was aided by growth in the company's MICE business and the inorganic contribution from the Globe Travels acquisition. Moving forward, robust corporate client acquisition, growth in the MICE segment, and ongoing investment in its proprietary technology platform, which includes AI-powered personalization and booking tools, place it well for the next growth phase. Yatra Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:YTRA) operates as an online travel company. It is based in Gurugram, India. While we acknowledge the potential of YTRA as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 13 Cheap AI Stocks to Buy According to Analysts and 11 Unstoppable Growth Stocks to Invest in Now Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
