Waterways Leisure Tourism Limited IPO

Waterways Leisure Tourism Limited was incorporated in November 2020 and operates the cruise vessel MV Empress, a 2,005-passenger ship with 796 cabins serving domestic destinations including Mumbai, Goa, Kochi, Chennai, Lakshadweep, Visakhapatnam and Puducherry, as well as international routes to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

The company follows an asset-light operating model by outsourcing key cruise functions such as food and beverage, housekeeping, crewing and entertainment, enabling operational efficiency and scalability. Since commencing operations, it has hosted over 7,30,000 guests and sailed more than 3,21,000 nautical miles, with an occupancy rate of nearly 85% and average ticket price of approximately ₹11,000 per passenger. Over 62% of cabins are sold directly through its website, mobile app and call centres, reducing dependence on travel agents and improving margins. As of March 31, 2026, the company had 245 permanent employees and promoters Global Shipping and Leisure Limited and Rajesh Chandumal Hotwani hold 99.27% pre-IPO stake.

The issue is entirely a fresh issue of 72,40,099 equity shares aggregating to ₹585 Cr at a price band of ₹769 to ₹808 per share, listing on both BSE and NSE mainboard.

Around ₹480 Cr (82% of proceeds) will be deployed towards deposit and lease payments to subsidiary Baycruise Shipping and Leasing (IFSC) Private Limited for onboarding two new vessels — Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun — which could nearly triple passenger carrying capacity. At the upper price band, the IPO is valued at a post-issue P/E of 112x FY26 earnings, which is significantly higher than listed hospitality peers such as Chalet Hotels (25.73x), Lemon Tree Hotels (40.98x) and Juniper Hotels (31.90x), making the valuation aggressive. Key strengths include dominant 79% domestic cruise market share, pioneering brand recognition under Cordelia Cruises, high direct-booking mix and an asset-light model; key risks include a 69% PAT drop in FY26 (from ₹168 Cr to ₹52 Cr), negative net worth as recently as FY24, extremely high P/B ratio of 65.64x, rising debt of ₹101.90 Cr and near-total dependence on a single vessel for revenue generation.