Hotels, eateries have their plates full in Q1, some even post record numbers

Despite a challenging inflationary environment, global geopolitical tensions and the pandemic, hotel chains and restaurant companies have reported impressive results for the April-June quarter with some even posting record numbers.

Industry experts said the near-term outlook for the sector looked promising, too.

Tata Group-backed Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) posted revenue from operations of ₹1,266 crore, an over three-and-a-half-fold increase from a year earlier when the hospitality industry was beset by the second wave of Covid-19. It also posted a profit of ₹181 crore, compared with a ₹302 crore loss during April-June 2021.

Chief executive Puneet Chhatwal called it the best fiscal first quarter in the company's history.

Considering the one month gone by in the current July-September quarter and existing business on the books, the recovery looks strong, he said.

"Whether it is the conference business, restaurants or rooms, India is strong. People have become more used to taking risks and hotels are buzzing. It is important that the pricing is improving. It was much needed and very long overdue," he added.

EIH Ltd, the flagship company of the Oberoi Group, also swung into the black with a profit of ₹66 crore for the quarter ended June 30. It had posted a loss of ₹114 crore in the year-earlier quarter.

For , revenue from operations grew more than four-and-a-half times to ₹192 crore. The chain clocked a profit of around ₹14 crore as opposed to a loss of ₹60 crore in the quarter ended June last year.

Signalling rising spending on both dine-in and delivery, restaurant chains also claimed to have posted record numbers.

Anjan Chatterjee, chairman of Speciality Restaurants, said the company had posted its best ever quarterly results.

Speciality Restaurants - the fine dining restaurant operator that counts Mainland China, Asia Kitchen by Mainland China, Oh! Calcutta and Sigree-Global Grill as its key brands - posted revenue ₹98.6 crore and a profit of around ₹15 crore.

"The sector, on a macro level, will continue to do well. People have adapted to the new ways of living and are eating out a lot more. We were shutting the non-profit-making stores anyway, but the pandemic pushed us even further," he said.

"The pandemic taught us we need to work with less manpower as it was a question of survival. We re-engineered the menu and looked at every possible optimisation of cost. Before the pandemic, delivery was about 7-8% of our total business. Today, it would be about 25-28%. These learnings have been ingrained in us."