International Travel House Ltd Q3 FY26: ₹58.2 Cr Revenue, EPS Turns Negative, Yet ROCE at 24% — Travel Business or Emotional Rollercoaster?
1. At a Glance – Blink and You’ll Miss the Drama
International Travel House Ltd (ITHL), India’s OG listed travel company, is currently trading around ₹372 with a market cap of roughly ₹297 crore. Over the last three months, the stock has politely fallen off a cliff with an ~18% decline, and over one year, it has managed a spectacular -42% return. Tourism may be booming on Instagram reels, but the stock chart looks like a Goa trip planned in monsoon.
Latest quarterly numbers (Q3 FY26, Dec 2025) show revenue of ₹58.22 crore — basically flat YoY and QoQ — while PAT has dramatically slipped into the red at -₹0.02 crore. Yes, that’s negative, not a typo. EPS for the quarter stands at -₹0.03, which feels awkward when the trailing twelve-month EPS still shows a healthy ₹26.1. ROCE, however, is flexing at 24.1%, ROE at 17.6%, and debt-to-equity is an almost spiritual 0.01.
Dividend yield of ~1.5% suggests management still believes in “sharing is caring.” The valuation looks cheap at ~11.8x earnings versus an industry PE north of 40. But cheap things sometimes are cheap for a reason. Is this a mispriced travel veteran or a company stuck between pre-COVID nostalgia and post-COVID reality? Let’s unpack this suitcase properly.
2. Introduction – From Maharaja Vibes to Excel Sheets
International Travel House Ltd began operations in 1981, when booking air tickets meant carbon copies and trust, not apps and cashback coupons. It went public in 1993, becoming India’s first listed travel company — basically the Doordarshan of Indian travel management.
Fast forward to today, ITHL operates across business travel, car rentals, MICE, and leisure travel. It is an IATA member offering access to 265 airlines through the BSP system, which sounds impressive until you realize every serious travel management company has that badge. The real differentiator historically has been corporate clientele and promoter backing.
The ITC Group, through a maze of subsidiaries and associates, holds 61.69% of ITHL. Operational support, board-level guidance, and deputation of senior management come bundled with this relationship. Recently, ITC reshuffled holdings, transferring hospitality investments to ITC Hotels Ltd, but the group’s stake in ITHL remains unchanged. Translation: control stays, paperwork moves.
But legacy doesn’t pay salaries. Numbers do. And Q3 FY26 numbers are not exactly first-class tickets. Revenue stagnation, margin pressure, and a negative quarter raise uncomfortable questions. Is this just a one-quarter turbulence, or is the aircraft losing altitude?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Think of ITHL as the travel desk of India Inc. — not your backpacker hostel buddy.
The Car Rental segment runs a fleet of 2,200+ premium and luxury cars across 70+ locations. Airport transfers, corporate mobility, and chauffeur-driven services dominate here. EVs have been piloted since FY23, with plans for phased induction. Sustainable travel is cool, but fleet economics is king.
Business Travel is the heart of ITHL. Corporates like Infosys, Reliance, Tata Group, Meta, and Apple rely on it for ticketing, visa concierge, self-booking tools, and 24×7 emergency travel services. A new self-booking platform was launched in FY23 to automate processes — because Excel sheets don’t scale.
The MICE segment handles meetings, incentives, conferences, and events — basically corporate offsites where PowerPoint meets buffet. It’s high-touch, low-volume, and margin-sensitive.
Leisure Travel exists, but it’s not MakeMyTrip. It’s curated, corporate-friendly, and often bundled with transport services.
Revenue breakup in FY23 was brutally simple: 98% from services, 2% from other operating income. No hidden monetization tricks. No fintech pivot. Just travel.
