Indian Hotels posts net loss of Rs 252 cr for Sept quarter

Tata group hospitality arm Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) on Wednesday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 252.09 crore for the quarter ended September 30. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 69.30 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, IHCL said in a BSE filing.

Its consolidated total income stood at Rs 323.54 crore for the quarter under consideration. It was Rs 1,028.57 crore for the same period year ago, it added. "The coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented event that has impacted the economy significantly, especially the travel and tourism sector. Though a gradual recovery is visible, it will take time to reach pre-pandemic levels in this uncertain environment," IHCL MD and CEO Puneet Chhatwal said.

At IHCL, "all our efforts are focused in executing the 'R.E.S.E.T 2020' strategy committed to creating alternative revenue growth avenues, expanding its portfolio using an asset-light framework, driving cost optimization, and continuing to deliver value to all our stakeholders," he added. The implementation of R.E.S.E.T 2020, a comprehensive five-point strategy, has provided a transformative framework to help the company overcome COVID-19-related challenges, and has yielded positive results in the first half of 2020-21, the filing said.

The five points of R.E.S.E.T strategy are revenue growth, excellence, spend optimization, effective asset management, and thrift and financial prudence, it added. IHCL Executive Vice-President and CFO Giridhar Sanjeevi said, "IHCL has taken several measures to mitigate the financial impact on both profits and cash flow in recent months." He added that with the ease of lockdown restrictions, the company is seeing gradual signs of improvement in the second quarter but full recovery will take some time.

The business of the group in India and international markets has been impacted during the current quarter and half year on account of COVID-19 and the Group witnessed softer revenues due to the lockdown, the filing said. Owing to the lockdown restrictions, "significant number of our hotels across the group had to be shut down but with the phased unlocks across the countries where the group operates, hotels have been opened in a gradual manner", it added.

The company added that with about 90 percent of hotels have re-opened by the end of September 2020, and business is expected to gradually improve across all hotels. Shares of IHCL on Wednesday closed at Rs 96.50 per scrip on the BSE, up 0.21 percent from its previous close.