The planned separation of Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, a subsidiary of Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL), is anticipated to be completed by July of next year. This transaction has already received approval from market and stock exchange regulators and is currently under review by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Mahesh Iyer, Managing Director and CEO of TCIL, told Business Standard that the proposal was approved by NSE, BSE, and SEBI. He added that they have already approached the NCLT, which held its first hearing, and the company hopes that a shareholders' meeting will soon be called, setting the estimated completion timeline for the process in July 2027.
Despite a challenging operational environment in the quarter ending September 30, including a period of rising airfare tariffs, the company's profit remained largely stable. Iyer noted that this result was primarily driven by the tourism business in India and the foreign exchange segment.
The company plans to expand its distribution network, particularly in second and third-tier cities, and continue investing in technology, cyber resilience, and digital assets.
According to Iyer, traveler preferences vary significantly across different regions. Tourists from first-tier cities tend to choose exotic and long-haul destinations such as Europe, the USA, Africa, and Australia. Meanwhile, second and third-tier markets include a larger proportion of first-time travelers, who usually start with domestic trips before moving on to international destinations with short flights, such as Dubai and Southeast Asia.
Regarding the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) segment, Iyer described the current year as mixed. He stated that while corporate demand for MICE remained strong, the pace of discussions and conversions did not meet expectations.
For winter travel, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan are gaining popularity, and autumn is also showing high demand. Iyer forecasts a 30% year-on-year growth, largely attributed to long-haul flights.
Furthermore, Thomas Cook manages the Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI) business, which, according to Iyer's expectations, will start gaining momentum in the current quarter. He suggested that October-December could be the largest quarter for the DEI segment, which had previously been sluggish because half of the business operated in the Middle East market.
The company announced its results for the second quarter on the 27th in Monday. Net profit decreased by 24% to 53.7 crore rupees from 70.7 crore rupees in the same period last year. However, the Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) increased by 3% to 151.2 crore rupees in the second quarter of the financial year 27 compared to 147 crore rupees the previous year.
