Covid-19 pandemic pushed India's Taj Hotel chain to look to cut costs

The company slumped to a Rs 3.8 billion ($51 million) loss in the six months ended September 30 from a Rs 1.4 billion profit a year earlier

Topics
Coronavirus | Taj Hotel

Bloomberg 

indian hotels
The firm, which owns the iconic Taj brand and operates The Pierre in New York City, didn’t cut any jobs

Indian Hotels, the luxury hotel chain run by the Tata Group, used the coronavirus-imposed lockdown to see where it could save costs.

“This was the historic opportunity to review our fixed and variable costs,” Chief Executive Officer Puneet Chhatwal said on Wednesday. “The industry never experienced such a revenue decline in last 100 years.”

The firm, which owns the iconic Taj brand and operates The Pierre in New York City, didn’t cut any jobs but redeployed some staff elsewhere in the Tata empire, Chhatwal said.

The company slumped to a Rs 3.8 billion ($51 million) loss in the six months ended September 30 from a Rs 1.4 billion profit a year earlier, as a 73 per cent plunge in revenue eclipsed 36 per cent cost savings.

Its shares have rebounded 82 per cent from a six-year low in May as India’s economy gradually reopens.


Dear Reader,


Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor

Read our full coverage on Coronavirus
First Published: Wed, November 25 2020. 23:10 IST
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU