GURUGRAM, India and
NEW YORK, June 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Yatra Online,
Inc. ("Yatra") (NASDAQ: YTRA, OTCQX: YTROF), India's leading online travel company, today
provided an update on its operations, business strategy and
financial outlook.
On a standalone basis, Yatra has the strategic and financial
resources required to continue its strategy to consolidate the
Corporate Travel Services sector in India, where it is currently the largest
provider. Yatra believes it has a strong financial position to
support the Company over the coming quarters.
As of June 4, 2020, the Company
had US$32.5 million in total
available liquidity and its current monthly run-rate operating
fixed cost was approximately US$1.2
million (excluding any litigation related
expenses).
In the current environment, Yatra continues to focus on the
following:
1. Ensuring
Sustainability of the Company's Long Term Strategy
Over the last 18 months, Yatra has put in place significant cost
cuts to improve efficiency and attain profitability. These actions
have put Yatra in a strong position in the current environment and
help ensure the sustainability of the Company's long term strategy
as the macro improves.
At the outset of FY20, Yatra began to further streamline
operations, building on the steps taken in FY19, such as
outsourcing of our call-center operations and optimizing marketing
spend, among others. Initiatives such as headcount rationalization
and reduction in customer promotions in B2C hotels further helped
reduce the cost structure of the business. This resulted in the
Company reporting positive Adjusted EBITDA of US$2.9 million in the December 2019 quarter.
Starting April 2020, the following
cost reduction initiatives ("Cost Reduction Initiatives") have been
implemented, resulting in 58% fixed cost savings in May 2020 vs March
2020 and 70% savings as compared to March 2019.
Some of the Cost Reduction Initiatives include:
- Reducing Management salaries by 50% and variable reduction in
salaries of 25-75% across the board for the near term;
- Freezing salary hikes;
- Renegotiating supplier payment terms and conditions;
- Renegotiating fixed costs like rent; and
- Deferring non-critical capital expenditures.
In addition, marketing spend has been substantially reduced to
better align with revenue.
The Company expects to release fourth quarter 2020 earnings in
early July and anticipates providing additional updates at that
time.
2. Supporting Our
Customers
Yatra is assisting its customers with changes to their travel
arrangements through enhanced automation capabilities to assist a
larger volume of travel rescheduling and cancellations and also
providing customers with flexible conditions so they can
defer/cancel their travel plans easily.
3. Caring for our
Employees
Yatra's employees have been working remotely since March 23, 2020. The Company's leading-edge
technology has allowed it to effectively carry out all business
operations remotely. The health and safety of our employees is of
the utmost importance and we have put policies in place to ensure
that this remains at the forefront as and when restrictions are
removed and the economy opens up.
Safe Harbor
Statement
Statements contained in this press release that relate to future
results and events may constitute "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking
statements are based on the Company's current expectations,
assumptions, estimates and projections about the Company and its
industry. These forward-looking statements are subject to various
risks and uncertainties. Generally, these forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect,"
"intend," "will," "project," "seek," "seem," "should" and similar
expressions. Such statements include, among other things,
management's beliefs as well as our strategic and operational
plans. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and
uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statement. Potential risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, the slow-down of economic growth
in India and the global economic
downturn, general declines or disruptions in the travel industry,
volatility in the trading price of our shares, our reliance on our
relationships with travel suppliers and strategic alliances,
failure to further increase our brand recognition to obtain new
business partners and consumers, failure to compete against new and
existing competitors, failure to successfully manage current growth
and potential future growth, risks associated with any strategic
investments or acquisitions, seasonality in the travel industry in
India and overseas, failure to
successfully develop our corporate travel business, damage to or
failure of our infrastructure and technology, loss of services of
our key executives, and inflation in India and in other countries. These and other
factors are discussed in our reports filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this earnings
release is provided as of the date of issuance of this earnings
release, and we do not undertake any obligation to update any
forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable
law.
About Yatra Online, Inc.
We are the second largest online travel agent company in
India. Based in Gurugram,
India, we are a one-stop-shop for
all travel related services. A brand that believes in "Creating
Happy Travelers," we provide information, pricing, availability,
and booking facility for domestic and international air travel,
domestic and international hotel bookings, Packages, buses, trains,
in city activities, inter-city and point-to-point cabs, homestays
and cruises. As a leading consolidator of accommodation options, we
provide real-time bookings for more than 108,000 hotels and
homestays in India and over 1.5
million hotels around the world. Through our website,
www.yatra.com, our mobile application and our other associated
platforms, leisure and business travelers can explore, research,
compare prices and book a wide range of services catering to their
travel needs.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/yatracom-provides-business-update-301071538.html
SOURCE Yatra Online, Inc.