Taj maps aggressive plans on the back of best-ever quarter
1 min read 09 Aug 2022, 02:02 AM ISTThe company seeks to grow the Taj brand to 100 hotels globally, & 75 properties across Vivanta and SeleQtions
PremiumNEW DELHI : Tata group-owned Indian Hotels Co. Ltd is preparing for an aggressive expansion, after delivering the best-ever quarterly performance, with nearly 500% year-on-year revenue growth in the June quarter.
The growth of the domestic travel industry ever since the pandemic-led lockdowns were lifted, is driving the company’s strategy across brands such as Taj Hotels, Ginger and SeleQtions. The group is looking to increase the number of hotels for each category and expand its footprint to tierII and III cities, including Manali, Bekal, Nainital, Tirupati, Kanpur and Udaipur. The firm has already signed management contracts for properties across cities.
The company is also looking to increase its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization contribution from brands like The Chambers and bespoke small-inventory hotel managed unit amã Stays and Trails.
While the Tata group firm operates 242 hotels, another 63 are in the pipeline. The mix of owned and leased, and managed properties in its portfolio is at 54:46. The Taj brand and budget brand Ginger hotels run 89 hotels, each, while SeleQtions operates 28 hotels and Vivanta has 36 hotels.
On Monday, it announced its June quarter results. On a consolidated basis, its Q1 FY23 revenue was at ₹1266.07 crore, up from ₹344.55 crore in year ago. Its profit after tax stood at ₹180 crore, compared to a loss of ₹301.5 crore in Q1 FY22.
“Q1 FY23 performance was the best ever in IHCL’s history, and is a testament to our long-term focus on becoming the most profitable and iconic hospitality company in South Asia," Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and chief executive officer, IHCL, said. “The rapidly increasing demand for travel across sectors is being led by domestic travel. Evolving travel trends will continue to shape offerings and services while putting new and lesser-explored destinations on the tourism map," he said.
“We will build a portfolio of 300 hotels, clock 33% EBITDA margin and 35% EBITDA share contribution from new businesses and management fees by FY26,“ Chhatwal added.
The company seeks to grow the flagship Taj brand to 100 hotels globally, and 75 properties across the Vivanta and SeleQtions brands. Ginger brand should grow to 125 hotels, he said. “We steered through two years of covid-related challenges to emerge profitable in the last two quarters of FY22."
