Mumbai: The Rs 645-crore initial public offer (IPO) of state-run Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which manages ticket booking, tourism and catering for Indian Railways , is slated to open on Monday.Analysts are upbeat on the IPO and have recommended investors to subscribe to the offer, given the reasonable valuations.The IPO has a price band of Rs 315-320 per share, and closes on October 3. The issue comprises an offer for sale of 2,01,60,000 shares and is a part of the government's divestment process.In a note on Thursday, IndiaNivesh Securities said it expects IRCTC’s food catering and travel tourism segments to grow in mid teens while operating margins of packaged water division to improve as more plants are commissioned.It pointed out that the company had strong fundamentals and debt free balance sheet along with decent return ratios with return on equity (ROE) being 26 per cent, operating margins of 20 per cent and PAT (profit after tax) margin at 15 per cent augurs well.The brokerage firm expects revenue and PAT CAGR (compound annual growth rate ) of 20 per cent plus for the next couple of years.“IPO looks conservatively priced at a PER (price earnings ratio) of around 19x based on FY19 earnings. We recommend subscribe,” Indianivesh said in the note.IRCTC operates one of the most transacted websites, www.irctc.co.in, in the Asia-Pacific region with transaction volume averaging 15 to 18 million transactions per month during the three months ended June 30.It has also diversified into other businesses, including non-railway catering and services such as e-catering, executive lounges and budget hotel.The company’s sales rose 25 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,899 crore and its profit grew 23.5 per cent to Rs 272.5 crore in financial year 2019, according to its draft red herring prospectus filed with the regulators in August.At present, it operates in four business segments, namely, internet ticketing, catering, packaged drinking water under the “Rail Neer” brand, and travel and tourism.“IRCTC has a unique business model and the company does not have any competition across any business segment. Based on various parameters like strong earnings profile, diversified business segment, healthy return ratio, debt free status and most importantly monopoly business, we have a positive view on the issue,” Anand Rathi Share & Stock Brokers said in a note on Friday.At the upper price band of Rs 320, the stock is available at P/E multiple of 18.8 times to its FY19 EPS of Rs 17, the brokerage pointed.“We have a positive outlook on the company and we recommend investors to Subscribe to this issue,” Anand Rathi analyst said in the note.Stewart & Mackertich Wealth Management also believed the stock is valued reasonably and thus recommended investors to subscribe to the issue.The company was incorporated as Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation on September 27, 1999, as a public limited company as a Central Public Sector Enterprise wholly owned by the government and under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways, IRCTC is the only entity authorised by Indian Railways to provide catering services to railways, online railway tickets and packaged drinking water at railway stations and trains in India.It was conferred the status of Miniratna by the government on May 1, 2008.