Q2 profit up 226% YoY but traditionally H2 is much stronger; IHCL should do better than last year: Puneet Chhatwal
Tata-backed Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) announced a profit of Rs 583 crore for the second quarter of the fiscal year, marking a 226% year-on-year (YoY) increase. IHCL also reported revenues of Rs 1,826 crore for the quarter, a 27.4% YoY rise. Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO, IHCL, talks to ET Now about what is making the hospitality sector and especially, IHCL succeed while the rest of the consumption sector industries are slowing down.
Chhatwal also says that Q3 is always the strongest quarter, followed by Q4. As the sector is making money in Q1 and Q2, Q3, and Q4 are coming as a bumper on top. So the sector is doing well and Indian Hotels is very well positioned to take advantage of the possible tailwinds.
On growth spurt in H2
Puneet Chhatwal: We have to look at quarter one and quarter two together. We are very much within our guidance which we said we will do a double-digit top line growth. And if you look at the first half, we are at 11% top line and that is my belief that demand will continue to outpace supply. And as India grows, as India's GDP grows, as India from number five becomes number three economy, it is just the beginning of a long journey for the hospitality sector. Within that, if we are India's largest hospitality ecosystem, we will stand to benefit.
There will be headwinds like we had in Q1 with an excessive heatwave, with the code of conduct, with less wedding dates in the first quarter, but all in all, I always say a year has 365 days or 52 weeks and within that, given our very strong
