'No need for India listing; will sustain growth momentum'

Digital travel agency MakeMyTrip, which competes with Mumbai-listed peers EaseMyTrip and Yatra, had made its debut on the Nasdaq in the US back in 2010

- Dilasha Seth

Last year, it was considering an India listing but has now abandoned the plans, said Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group chief executive in an interview with VCCircle. At present, MakeMyTrip does not have any fundraising plans thanks to its strong earnings and a healthy balance sheet, he added, while sharing his views on the firm's outlook and nascent business in the Middle East. Edited excerpts: 

MakeMyTrip posted strong financials in Q1, reporting a net profit of $18.6 million on a demand revival. How do you look at the numbers?

It was a pretty good year of recovery after two years of challenging times (due to covid-19). One year went into recovering and almost rebuilding the business. In the June quarter, consumer sentiment was very positive despite the high travel inflation, due to high fares and tariffs. There were tailwinds on the demand side. It was a summer quarter, a high season for leisure travel, which helped.

Besides, we were ready from MakeMyTrip's standpoint with investments we made across platforms during the two or three years of downcycle. They include our platforms like MyBiz, MMT Affiliate, MyPartner, as well as investments in forex companies and our advertisement platform.

Also, the Middle East launch, ironically, happened during the pandemic. Some initiatives were revenue-focused while some others were profitability-focused. They all started coming together: macro recovery, positive demand sentiment, unrestricted travel, and our investments paying off together contributed to the strong numbers.