Indian Hotels Q4 net falls 31% as costs rise

Mumbai: Indian Hotels Co Ltd, part of the diversified Tata conglomerate, posted a 31% fall in quarterly net profit on Monday, hurt by higher expenses.

The company, which owns and operates the chain of Taj hotels and resorts worldwide, earned Rs 65.21 crore for the three months ended in March, compared with Rs 93.93 crore a year earlier.

Net sales rose 6% to Rs 560 crore, the company, whose flagship Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai overlooks the city’s harbour and iconic Gateway of India arch, said.

Analysts on average expected a profit of Rs 65.6 crore on revenue of Rs 564 crore, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S showed.

Shares in Indian Hotels, which has a market capitalisation of $779.3 million, ended down 0.35% at Rs 56.8, before its results were announced. The benchmark index in Mumbai ended up 1.23%.