Cancelled trains drag IRCTC shares down by over 3%

• The Railway Board on Thursday in a notification said that tickets booked for the regular trains from July 1 to August 12 stand cancelled.
• IRCTC is also set to announce its fourth-quarter results today for the quarter ending March 2020.
• Follow the latest news and updates on Business Insider.

A day after Indian Railways extended regular train suspension till August 12 in the wake of coronavirus lockdown, India’s top online booking portal Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) stocks crashed. The shares fell over 3% in early trade on June 26.


The Railway Board on Thursday in a notification said that tickets booked for the regular trains from July 1 to August 12 stand cancelled. However, it added that “all special Rajdhani, mail and express trains that started operating from May 12 and June 1 will continue to operate.”

IRCTC is also set to announce its fourth-quarter results today

Analysts do not have great hopes from the earnings for the quarter ending March 2020. Even before the lockdown, the number of tickets sold via IRCTC declined in early March to 5.5 lakh tickets per day in comparison to pre-COVID level of 8.5 lakh tickets each day, according to a report from Prabhudas Lilladher, a stockbroking firm.

Research firm Prabhudas Lilladher expects a hit of anywhere between 5.1% to 23% on IRCTC's this year's earnings due to extended suspension and ticket cancellation.

“We have only enabled refunds for trains which are not being operated and for which tickets have been booked prior to lock down and up to April 14,” a Railway spokesperson said.

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