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Nishant Pitti, co-founder and CEO of Easy Trip Planners, the parent company of Indian online travel agency EaseMyTrip, on Wednesday announced his resignation, effective January 1, 2025. His brother Rikant Pittie, currently serving as the company’s chief financial officer, has been appointed as the new CEO “with immediate effect”.
The announcement comes amidst broader strategic shifts within the company and a steady reduction in promoter shareholding over the past year.
In a letter to shareholders, Nishant Pitti cited “personal reasons” for stepping down. The company echoed this in its official filing to the stock exchange, confirming the change.
“Nishant Pitti has resigned and shall cease to be the ‘Chief Executive Officer’ of the company, with effect from January 01, 2025, on account of personal reasons,” the company said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday.
Over the past few months, Nishant has also reduced his stake in EaseMyTrip. Following Tuesday’s latest offload of 1.41%, his holding now stands at 12.8%. Earlier, in September, Nishant offloaded 13.91% stake in the company.
Rikant Pittie, the incoming CEO, holds a 25.88% stake. His portfolio includes directorships in subsidiaries and affiliated ventures, such as Easy Builders, Spree Hotels, and Easy Green Mobility, highlighting EaseMyTrip’s diversification efforts.
According to the company filing, Rikant Pittie’s last drawn remuneration was INR 9.6 million ($111,905).
With Nishant Pitti’s latest shares offload, the combined promoter holding has declined to 48.97% from 50.38%. The other Pitti brother, Prashant Pitti, who is the company’s managing director, holds 10.29% stake in the company.
Strategic Shifts: Diversification and Expansion
EaseMyTrip has been actively expanding its business beyond air ticketing, a move emphasized in its fiscal 2025 strategy. Key developments include:
- International Study Tourism: In November, EaseMyTrip acquired Planet Education Australia to enter the study tourism segment. This acquisition aligns with EaseMyTrip’s vision to expand its service offerings and create a more comprehensive travel ecosystem for its customers while tapping into study tourism, the company had said in a release.
- Electric Vehicle Manufacturing: The company announced plans to venture into the EV bus market under its Easy Green Mobility subsidiary. “The company will invest INR 2 billion ($23.3 million) for research and development, product development, and establishing a manufacturing plant over the next 2-3 years,” EaseMyTrip said in a statement.
- Medical Tourism: In September, EaseMyTrip announced the acquisition of a 49% equity stake in Pflege Home Healthcare and 30% in wellness and healthcare product company Rollins International.
The acquisitions reflect the company’s vision of reducing dependence on traditional air travel bookings and tapping into high-growth markets.
Financial Performance: Mixed Signals
However, EaseMyTrip’s latest financials highlight challenges amidst diversification efforts. For the quarter ending September 30, the company reported:
- A 45% decline in consolidated net profit to INR 260 million ($3 million) year-on-year.
- A 2.1% increase in net sales to INR 1.4 billion ($16.3 million).
- A 37.5% drop in profit before interest, depreciation, and taxes to INR 423 million ($5 million).
Managing Director Prashant Pitti attributed the profitability decline to higher expenses from recent acquisitions, which are yet to yield proportional revenue growth. “We have acquired three companies. And being a smaller scale company, their employee expenses, marketing expenses have added up. However, the revenues have not been added up so much,” he said during the earnings call in November.
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