Indian Hotels Ltd.'s MD & CEO Puneet Chhatwal believes that hospitality as a sector is now becoming more consumerism driven other than just being hospitality and food & beverage driven.
The chief of the hotel chain, which operates the Taj Group of hotels along with other brands, said that Indian Hotels currently has 79 hotels in the pipeline, out of which five of them were opened in the March quarter and another 11 were signed. "I think our guidance has been we will open 20 hotels this year," Chhatwal told CNBC-TV18 in a post-earnings interaction.
Chhatwal also spoke about how demand remains strong and will continue to outpace supply as not many new hotels have been constructed during the pandemic times.
Indian Hotels reported revenue growth of 15.8 percent during the June quarter, while the 30.5 percent growth in net profit was aided by an 82 percent jump in other income.
MD & CEO Chhatwal said that the year has begun on a good note for Indian Hotels but seasonality had a role to play in the results. "Quarter three is traditionally the strongest, quarter four is the second strongest. And if you get quarter one as a good start, I think then you're ahead," he said. "If we start on a good note, the quarter three and quarter four can only augment the performance of quarter one and quarter two," he added.
Indian Hotels' collaboration with Tata Neu has helped the company innovate over the last few quarters in introducing newer concepts. This has helped drive loyalty-driven revenue for the company. "Our new F&B innovations, our smart renovations and ancillary businesses like private membership club, like chambers, the renaissance of the Taj Club Lounges is all helping us to drive premium performance," Chhatwal added.
EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 28 percent compared to 29.8 percent during the same period last year. Chhatwal said that the standalone margin for the India business is still at 36 percent and that he continues to maintain the 33 percent margin target for the consolidated entity by financial year 2025.
Other Key Takeaways From The Conversation:
For more, watch the entire interview here:
(Edited by : Hormaz Fatakia)
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