Indian Hotels posts consolidated PAT of Rs 170 cr in Q1 amid rise in demand

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) on Monday reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 170 crore for the quarter ended June, mainly due to surge in demand as the occupancy and rates exceeded pre-COVID levels.

The hospitality group had reported a loss of Rs 277 crore during the corresponding period of the previous financial year, IHCL said in a statement.

The company's revenue surged by 249.45 per cent to Rs 1,293 crore during the quarter under review, compared to Rs 370 crore in the year-ago period.

"We have reported its best first quarter in the company's history. This performance has been boosted by a surge in demand across markets and segments, with occupancy and rates exceeding pre-Covid levels.

"This has resulted in a milestone EBITDA Margin of 31.3 per cent, which is an improvement of 1,140 bps over the first quarter of FY20," IHCL Managing Director and CEO Puneet Chhatwal said.

Going forward, he told PTI that with growth in demand, rates will continue to hold up or grow due to constraints in supply.

July finished with a very strong performance and the first seven days of August have been equally strong as the first quarter. Therefore, the company is expecting a double-digit revenue growth in the second quarter, he added.

"It will be an interesting quarter with long weekends like Independence Day and the Parsi new year. Looking at the bookings, we expect double-digit revenue growth in the next quarter as well," he added.

Talking about the international markets, Chhatwal said business has not reached pre-COVID levels yet, but things are looking up. The US market is positive, in the UK July was the best month, Dubai did well except the holy season and in South Africa, the summer will begin from October which looks promising, he noted.

The Sri Lankan market is struggling due to the political crisis in the country, however, business is slowly beginning to come back, he added.

The hospitality company currently has 242 hotels, of which 179 are operational and 63 in pipeline. In India, IHCL has 163 hotels.

The company, under its Ahvaan 2025 initiative, aims to build a portfolio of over 300 hotels. IHCL also plans to restructure its portfolio and achieve a 50:50 mix between its owned/leased and managed hotels.

In a statement, IHCL Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Giridhar Sanjeevi said the revenue performance in the quarter has been encouraging as it is broad based across key markets and brands.

"This combined with continued cost monitoring measures has led to margin expansion across all IHCL group companies. IHCL Consolidated has thereby reported a strong free cash flow of Rs 198 crores for the quarter and continues to be net cash positive," he added.

IHCL shares on Monday closed at Rs 33.20, up 2.95 per cent on BSE.