1.At a Glance
Thomas Cook (India) Ltd — a company older than most Indian grandfathers’ family trees — is now a ₹7,379 crore market cap travel & forex behemoth that refuses to retire. Born in 1881 and now spread across 25 countries, it’s the travel agent that somehow survived Google Flights, MakeMyTrip, and three pandemics of bad luck. At ₹157 per share, the stock trades at 30.5× earnings, reminding everyone that nostalgia can still be expensive. The company’s FY25 performance clocked ₹8,512 crore in revenue and ₹242 crore in profit after tax, with an ROCE of 18.7% and ROE of 11.9%.
In the last 3 months, the stock is down ~9%, which is ironic for a company selling vacations. Debt sits at ₹508 crore, comfortably low at a 0.22 D/E ratio. Despite a 21% YoY drop in quarterly profit, Thomas Cook remains India’s largest non-bank forex provider and possibly the only entity that can plan your honeymoonandyour visa rejection appeal.
As theBhagavad Gitasays,“You have the right to perform your duty, but not to the fruits thereof.”Clearly, Thomas Cook’s management took that literally — booking your duty-free trips while waiting for the “fruits” of a stronger quarter.
2.Introduction
Welcome to Thomas Cook India — a 144-year-old company that’s seen more crises than Bollywood remakes. From managing princely train bookings under the British Raj to issuing over one million prepaid forex cards in FY23, the company has transitioned from dusty ledgers to digital wallets faster than most government websites load.
Thomas Cook isn’t just a travel company anymore. It’s a full-stack travel-industrial complex: they plan your wedding destination, manage corporate MICE events, run a chain of resorts throughSterling Holidays, operate forex counters at airports, and even click your roller-coaster photo viaDigiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI). In short — if you’ve traveled, holidayed, or smiled in front of a camera, Thomas Cook probably billed someone for it.
FY23 and FY24 marked their “revenge travel” rebound era. Post-pandemic pent-up demand sent both corporate and leisure travel soaring, and the company digitized operations aggressively — reducing turnaround time for customized holidays from4 days to just 15 minutes. That’s faster than the time it takes to cancel a flight refund with an LCC airline.
They’ve even found new playgrounds: managingG20events,Khelo India Games, and multiple government tourism contracts — basically turning bureaucracy into business. But with profit growth slowing in FY25 and margins stuck around 5%, the question looms: can a Victorian-era brand keep its swag in the age of fintech and AI travel bots?
3.Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
If you thought Thomas Cook just books vacations, buckle up — this company is like theAvengersof travel services.
a) Travel and Related Services (72% of revenue)This is the heart of the business. The segment includes B2C holiday packages, B2B destination management, corporate travel, and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions). They manage G20 events one week and bachelor trips to Bali the next. In FY23, process digitization slashed trip customization time from four days to 15 minutes — basically travel planning meets Zomato delivery speed.
b) Financial Services (5% of revenue)This division handles forex retail, wholesale, and prepaid cards across India, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius. With over 1,600 forex partners and 25 airport counters, Thomas Cook isIndia’s largest non-bank forex provider, second only to HDFC Bank in prepaid cards. In FY23, they issued over 1 million prepaid cards — imagine all those NRIs and students thanking TCIL for saving them from airport currency scams.
c) Leisure Hospitality (7% of revenue)ThroughSterling Holiday Resorts
Ltd, the company runs 40 resorts across 38 Indian destinations, boasting 85,000+ members. In FY23, Sterling added 184 rooms and 6 new resorts, aiming for “a resort a month” expansion in FY24. That’s more aggressive than Zomato’s delivery fleet.
d) Digital Imaging (16% of revenue)The crown jewelDEI(Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging), headquartered in Dubai, operates across 19 countries and 266 attractions — fromLegoland KoreatoWild Wadi Waterpark. They captured over 114 million digital images in FY23 and even launchedThe Dubai Balloon Project, a B2C attraction. When tourists smile, DEI monetizes pixels.
In short — Thomas Cook is less of a travel agency and more of a diversified ecosystem where your vacation, forex, and Instagram photos all contribute to their EPS.
4.Financials Overview
| Metric | Latest Qtr (Sep’25) | YoY Qtr (Sep’24) | Prev Qtr (Jun’25) | YoY % | QoQ % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ₹2,074 Cr | ₹2,004 Cr | ₹2,408 Cr | 3.5% | -13.8% |
| EBITDA | ₹108 Cr | ₹125 Cr | ₹127 Cr | -13.6% | -15.0% |
| PAT | ₹71 Cr | ₹72 Cr | ₹74 Cr | -1.4% | -4.1% |
| EPS (₹) | 1.41 | 1.38 | 1.53 | 2.1% | -7.8% |
Annualized EPS = ₹1.41 × 4 = ₹5.64At CMP ₹157,P/E = 27.8×, slightly below its reported 30.5× (depending on trailing adjustments).
Commentary:A ₹2,000+ crore quarterly topline with 5% operating margins shows solid execution but limited pricing power. PAT dipped marginally despite steady sales — travel is back, but profits haven’t fully unpacked their bags yet. Think of it as a premium vacation where you arrive, but your luggage (profit margin) doesn’t.
5.Valuation Discussion – Fair Value Range (Educational Only)
Method 1: P/E ApproachIndustry P/E = 42.1×TCIL’s P/E = 30.5×Annualized EPS = ₹5.64→Implied Fair Value Range = ₹170 – ₹237
Method 2: EV/EBITDAEV = ₹6,896 Cr; EBITDA (FY25) = ₹449 Cr→ EV/EBITDA = 15.4×Industry average ≈ 12–16× →Fair Value Range = ₹145 – ₹185
Method 3: Simplified DCF (Educational)Assuming 10% revenue growth, 6% EBITDA margin, 10% WACC, 3% terminal growth → DCF suggests a value near ₹180.
Fair Value Range (Educational Only): ₹150 – ₹220
This fair value range is for educational purposes only and is not investment advice.
6.What’s Cooking – News, Triggers, Drama
2025 has been
