Makemytrip.com expects to break-even in this year

Online travel company Makemytrip.com (MMT) expects to achieve break-even by December 2008.

According to MMT's founder and CEO, Deep Kalra, the company currently has 45% market share in terms of total net revenues garnered by all OTAs in the market. The company, according to Kalra, is fast bridging the gap towards breaking-even performance and is approaching its first profitable quarter in a span of 9-10 months.

"Our preferred exit is an IPO. Once you set your sights on selling out, then you limit your options and your fortunes depends on others' strategies" Kalra told EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta.

Overall, he expects consolidation with a couple of acquisitions in the online travel market in India in this calendar year.

From an operations' perspective, MMT is planning to expand its offline presence, focusing on tier II and III cities in India as it gears up for the new fiscal year.

MMT, which will end the 2007-08 fiscal year with US$280 million in gross revenues, currently has 20 retail shops in the country. Going forward, it is planning to touch 500 outlets mark, with majority of them with priority partners or under franchisee route.

Kalra, who earlier stated that the focus will be more on profitability in 2008, said the company plans to increase its non-air business and the outlets will drive the holiday packages sales this year.

Among other recent developments, MMT shared that it is powering m-commerce platform for travelers, allowing them to search, book, pay and even receive their ticket on their mobile phones at no additional cost. According to MMT, the launch positioned MakeMyTrip as the first travel company to offer a true MCommerce platform for travelers in India. The company stated that it has launched the only mobile travel product that works Anywhere, Anytime and does not require a GPRS subscription. It partnered with mChek to offer MakeMyTrip AnyMobile service.

The company has also been operating regional offices and call center operations.