In a recent townhall, OYO's Founder Ritesh Agarwal revealed that private investors have shown interest in the travel tech company, potentially raising equity at a valuation ranging between $3 billion to $4 billion. This development comes as OYO, supported by Softbank, reported its first net profitable year with a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 99.6 crore ($12 million) for the fiscal year 2023-24.

The company recorded an adjusted EBITDA of Rs 888 crore ($107 million) for the same period, a significant increase from Rs 274 crore ($33 million) in FY23, according to sources who attended the townhall and reviewed the presentation.

OYO, operated by Oravel Stays Ltd, plans to refile its initial public offering (IPO) documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) following the refinancing of its $450 million Term Loan B (TLB) at a lower interest rate, as reported by PTI last week.

During the townhall, Agarwal mentioned that OYO might consider a small equity round at Rs 38-45 per share to further reduce its debt. The fiscal year 2023-24 saw OYO adding approximately 5,000 hotels and 6,000 homes globally.

The company’s gross booking value (GBV) per storefront per month for hotels was around Rs 3.32 lakh ($4,000). OYO's gross margins for FY24 increased to Rs 2,508 crore ($302 million) from Rs 2,350 crore ($283 million) in the previous year.

Operational costs also saw improvement, dropping from 19 percent of GBV in FY23 to 14 percent in FY24. Agarwal attributed the profitability to enhanced operational performance, stable gross margins, cost efficiencies, and reduced interest costs after a partial prepayment of $195 million in debt during Q3 FY24.

Looking ahead, Agarwal expressed confidence in growing both revenues and GBV for FY25 while maintaining the profit growth trajectory.