The Hindu : Indian Hotels net dips

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 20, 2003

Business

Business

Indian Hotels net dips

By Our Staff Correspondent

MUMBAI JUNE 19. The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), which operates the Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, today announced a net profit of Rs. 40.48 crores for the year ended March 2003 against Rs. 80.70 crores (including exceptional items of Rs. 32.77 crores and Taj Air Caterers) in the previous year. The board has reduced the dividend to 70 per cent from 80 per cent.

Sales were higher at Rs. 591 crores against Rs. 538 crores. Other income amounted to Rs. 21.37 crores (Rs. 21.50 crores) after adjusting previous year's turnover for air catering business. The gross profit was lower at Rs. 122.53 crores against Rs. 137.60 crores. The company provided Rs. 36.72 crores (Rs. 47.65 crores) for interest and Rs. 46.59 crores (Rs. 47.49 crores) for depreciation, Rs. 16.50 crores (Rs. 23 crores) for tax and Rs. 3.18 crores (Rs. 5.56 crores) for deferred tax.

Aggressive domestic marketing resulted in higher occupancies which combined with strong growth in F&B revenues and cost control, helped IHCL mitigate the impact of the tough business environment over the past year, which included travel advisories and reduction in international tourist traffic due to Iraq war. Occupancies during the year increased to 61 per cent from 56 per cent, while F&B revenue grew by 17 per cent.

As part of its expansion and property rationalisation strategy, the company added four hotels encompassing 443 rooms to its network across four cities. For the quarter ended March 2003, IHCL's net profit was at Rs 25.64 crore (Rs 9.4 crore) on sales of Rs 171.9 crore (Rs 144.1 crore)

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