IHCL Indian Hotels Company: What Driven Results?

Indian Hotels Company Limited reported its highest ever full-year performance during fiscal 2025. The company attributed this to the solid domestic demand for travel and limited additions in hotel supply.

The demand for domestic business travel is strong, and mega-wins like the Kumbh MelaInternational music concerts like Coldplay A strong wedding seasonIHCL CEO Puneet Chhatwal stated this during a Monday earnings call. 

Those factors allowed the hotel industry to increase room night sales by 6%, despite a 3% decrease in new room inventory.

IHCL reiterated its “Accelerate 30” vision, which aims to have 700 properties in operation by the end of the decade. The company opened 26 hotels and signed 74 new agreements in the past year. They ranged from Taj luxury flagships to Ginger mid-market properties. 

Chhatwal stated that the company intends to invest more than INR 12 billion ($142 million) during fiscal 2026. The company will invest in asset upgrades, new project, and investments focusing on the Taj brand, digital infrastructure, and other areas.

Reviving the Inbound story

India’s inbound tourism is struggling despite its domestic tourism being strong. Skift and Skift Research have documented.

IHCL places greater emphasis on attracting travelers from abroad. Referencing projections of 28 million foreign arrivals by 2030 — a nearly 40% increase over pre-pandemic levels—Chhatwal noted the potential for growth in inbound tourism.

The company has set aside INR 250 Million ($3 million) for three years in order to promote India overseas. IHCL also offers travel agents more flexible pricing and booking policies to encourage them to increase their inbound bookings.

The Last Minute Traveler, Direct Bookings, and Loyalty

Booking windows are getting smaller. Outside peak seasons, like school holidays, summer breaks and Christmas holidays, Indian travelers are planning getaways as little as 12–24 hours in advance, Chhatwal said.

This “last-minute phenomenon” is a result of the shift in Indians’ travel habits, which has increased since the pandemic.

IHCL is scaling up its “new and reinvented” ventures beyond the core hotels.

Qmin, Ginger’s grab and go concept, has grown to 72 outlets.  In addition to serving the F&B brand for Ginger Hotels, Qmin has also established a presence in retail through its partnership with WestSide stores in Mumbai and Bengaluru in a shop-in-shop format. Qmin also launched in Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru Airports with TFS. 

IHCL’s Tata Neu loyalty program will have 10 million members by fiscal 2025. The bookings made through direct channels have also risen by 43% and now total over INR 22 Billion ($261 Million), underlining the increasing popularity of a loyalty ecosystem that is integrated and app-centric.

IHCL Financials

• Revenue: In fiscal 2025, the total revenue of INR 85.6 milliards ($1,016million) grew by 23% compared to last year. The fourth-quarter revenue climbed 27% to INR $25 billion ($295million).
• EBITDA: EBITDA in fiscal 2025 was a record INR30 billion ($356 millions), an increase of 28% over the previous year. The corresponding fourth-quarter figure rose by 30% to INR9.2 billion ($109million). EBITDA for fiscal 2025 increased by 28% to a record INR 30 billion ($356 million), while the corresponding fourth quarter figure rose 30% to INR 9.2 billion ($109 million).
• Profit After Tax The fiscal 2025 profit after taxes jumped by 63% (including an exceptional gain of INR 3.2 billion, or $36,2 million) to INR 19 billion ($233million). PAT for the fourth quarter increased by 37%, to INR 5.4 billion ($64million).

Accommodations Sector Stock Performance Year-to Date

What am i looking at? The performance of the hotel and short-term rentals sector stocks in the ST200. The index includes publicly traded companies across global markets. This includes international and regional hotel brands as well as hotel REITs and hotel management companies.

The Skift Travel 200 is a 200-page guide to travel. The financial performance of more than 200 travel companies, worth over a trillion dollars, is combined into one number. See more hotels and short-term rental financial sector performance.

Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.