Tata Group-owned Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) on Wednesday reported a 19.35% year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated profit to Rs 379.85 crore for the September quarter, compared with Rs 318.26 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, according to a regulatory filing.
Revenue from operations during the July-September quarter rose to Rs 2,484.32 crore from Rs 2,040.89 crore a year ago. However, total expenses also increased to Rs 2,017.41 crore from Rs 1,671.54 crore in the year-ago period.
“The second quarter of FY27 marks the eighteenth consecutive record quarter. An increase of 25 per cent in RevPAR from domestic same store hotels, 25 per cent increase in management fee income led by new openings momentum, 25 per cent revenue growth in select service business and the contribution from our recent acquisitions of Brij and Atmantan,” IHCL Managing Director and CEO Puneet Chhatwal said, as quoted by PTI.
With 47 signings in the first half across its brands, IHCL now has a portfolio of 670 hotels and is on track to achieve its Accelerate 2030 target of 700 hotels well ahead of schedule, he said.
Building on its first-half performance, the company has raised its consolidated revenue growth guidance for FY27 to 15-17%, from the earlier 12-14%. The revised outlook is backed by an expected 17-19% growth in hotel segment revenue, seasonally strong quarters ahead, demand from social and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) events, and growth from businesses outside the existing portfolio.
“I see mostly green shoots going forward. That’s why we have increased the guidance by 300 basis points. It all depends on how November and January pan out. October is outstanding and if November and January end up being good, we could do even more,” Chhatwal told PTI.
Dubai hotels recover, overseas markets show improvement
On international operations, Chhatwal said occupancy was almost back to normal at two of IHCL’s three hotels in Dubai. The third property, The Palm, which has a greater focus on leisure travel, was operating at around 70% of its pre-Middle East crisis levels.
“Overall, this quarter is looking very good, London is looking very good for us, we are doing fine in New York. San Francisco market is coming back strongly, Cape Town has been very strong. We opened the lodge in Kruger National Park, the first one, the Taj Bush Lodge, and the two more are coming in the same area in the next four to five months, less than six months, so they’ll be operational by February and Frankfurt is beginning to settle down for us,” he said.
Domestic hospitality business remains strong
Chhatwal said domestic business remained strong, with IHCL expecting growth of more than 20% in its domestic hospitality business.
“What is a bit sluggish is our TajSATS, which was affected by a disruption in air travel. There was a lot of disruption in the flights and the schedules. Internationally, a lot of flights were cancelled, especially by Air India. But it’s also beginning to come back,” he added.