Tourism Breaking News
BLS International Services, a trusted global tech-enabled services partner for governments and citizens, announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the quarter and six-month period ended September 30, 2023. Amongst several others, the company processes visa applications for Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Thailand, Hungary, Morocco, India, Vietnam, Malaysia and Slovakia.
Shikhar Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director, BLS International Services, said, “We have continued our growth momentum into the second quarter of this fiscal. The Company’s performance has been in line with the expectations. Despite revenue growth of 14.3% year-on-year in the quarter, our EBITDA and PAT witnessed robust growth of 52.7% and 60.8% year-on-year, respectively. Favourable business mix resulted in the expansion of EBITDA margins, which sustained above the 20% mark this quarter. As key markets are opening up, we expect an increase in the number of visa applications. During the quarter, we signed up with the Government of Slovakia to offer outsourced visa services. Slovakia is becoming a hot spot for tourists, and we expect good volumes from the region. In addition, we rolled out Visa outsourcing centers for Hungary and Italy in various countries. On the Digital Services front, we tied up with Kotak Mahindra Bank to offer banking correspondence services, in line with our strategy to grow this line of business. Overall, we aim to continue focusing on spreading our reach far and wide with prudent emphasis on organic as well as inorganic growth while striving to maintain our internal rate of return threshold”.
The company continues to witness strong operating results. For the quarter ended September 30, 2023, company’s consolidated revenue rose 14.3% YoY to Rs. 407.7 Cr, while operating EBITDA witnessed a growth of 52.7% to Rs. 86.7 Cr. The company’s operating EBITDA margins continue to be in excess of 20%, primarily driven by an improved business mix, specifically in the Visa & Consular services segment.
The Management is focused on improving profitability and cash generation as key business performance metrics; the Company continues to be a debt-free company with cash on books at ~ Rs. 687 Cr. Given the asset-light nature of the business, the company has been able to generate significant returns for its shareholders: ROCE at 35.5% & ROE at 34.6% (based on H1FY24 annualized financials).
BOX: Growth Drivers:
- Opening up of key geographies for travel & tourism
- Winning new contracts as well as tenders which are in the pipeline
- Increasing demand for value-added services
- Potential Inorganic opportunities in both Visa & Consular and Digital Services segment
