'Modi government tourism push to help Cox & Kings cut debt'

Cox & Kings Ltd., India's biggest tour operator by market value, aims to slash its debt by almost 80 per cent in five years as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's easy visa rules to lure more visitors boost cash flow.

The Mumbai-based company will use at least Rs 500 crore ($79 million) of its cash annually to cut debt that stood at Rs 31.80 crore as of September 30, Chief Financial Officer Anil Khandelwal said in an interview. Cox & Kings raised Rs 1,000 crore last month selling shares to select investors and will use the proceeds to pare the obligations.
 

"At that pace, the company will have negligible debt by 2019 and will work on better dividend payouts," Khandelwal said. "With the economic uptrend coupled with the government's focus on promoting tourism, improving business climate and investor sentiment, we are poised to gain."

Cox & Kings, which sold its camping unit in September, is gearing up for more travellers as an economic recovery at home and abroad boosts inbound, outbound and domestic tourism. Shares of the company, whose origin dates back to the British colonial era, have more than doubled this year as Modi cut redtape and allowed visas on arrival for US tourists.

India received about 7 million travellers from abroad last year, 5.9 per cent more than in 2012, earning about Rs 18.40 crore, according to data provided by the ministry of tourism. About 16.6 million Indians visited foreign countries, 11 per cent more, while domestic tourism saw an almost 10 per cent growth with 1.1 billion travellers.