Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Indian Hotels Company Limited earnings conference call for the quarter ended 31st December 2025. On the call, we have with us Mr. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and CEO, IHCL, and Mr. Ankur Dalwani, EVP and CFO, IHCL. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing Star then Zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Puneet Chhatwal. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Chhatwal.
Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining our conference call for Q3 2025, 2026. We are pleased to inform you that we have continued our record performance for the 15th consecutive quarter, driven by sustained strength in our core business while building scale with profitability. I will now want to outline the 5 key sections of this call or this presentation from us, after which we will take you through each of these in detail. These 5 key sections would be: 1, performance. 2, pillars of diversification. 3, portfolio and pipeline. 4, partnerships and platforms. 5, prospects and possibilities going forward. Let me now begin with the 1, which is performance. On a consolidated basis, revenue for Q3 2025, 2026 grew 12% year-on-year to INR 2,900 crore.
EBITDA grew 11% year-on-year to INR 1,134 crore, yielding EBITDA margin of 39.1%. Our consolidated PAT, before exceptional items, grew 15% year-on-year to INR 668 crore, highest ever quarterly PAT in IHCL's history. For the very first time, our quarterly EBITDA for hotel segment crossed INR 1,000 crores, yielding 40.7% EBITDA margin. Our standalone performance in Q3 was also the best ever, with 9% growth in revenue to INR 1,654 crores and EBITDA margin expansion by 40 basis points to 48.2%. Standalone PAT, before exceptional items, grew 13% to INR 529 crores, taking PAT margin to a robust 32%.
For nine months, 25, 26, we delivered consolidated revenue growth of 17% year-on-year, with EBITDA margin of 34%, in line with our guidance of double-digit revenue growth. What is important is to step back and reflect on our growth journey over the past four years. As you would have seen, we have delivered a double-digit CAGR across revenue, EBITDA, and PAT on both consolidated and standalone basis. On the investor presentation, there is an interesting Slide number 5, if you would want to refer to during or after this call. These numbers underscore the consistency, quality, and the structural strength of our business model. With that, I move to point number 2 or section number 2, the pillars of diversification.
Having discussed our performance, the move to the structural drivers behind it is also important because we have now a highly diversified business model, a journey we commenced a few years ago. We're right in the middle of it with a few more years and several more quarters to go. Let's first take this journey across brands. Taj continues to be our crown jewel, with 69% of our operating revenue coming from the luxury segment anchored by the Taj. At the same time, as the overall revenue pie has expanded, the contribution from our other businesses and reimagined brands, too, has scaled meaningfully. The new business vertical, comprising of Ginger, Qmin, amã, and Tree of Life, now contributes 8% of total revenue. At the same time, TajSATS contributes 13% of the total revenue. Our upper upscale brands, Vivanta, SeleQtions, and Gateway, account for another 10%.
This balanced brand architecture allows us to capture premium pricing while participating in structural growth across mid-scale and emerging formats across all of India. Second pillar of diversification is geography. 53% of revenue comes from key domestic business cities, 15% from domestic leisure destinations, and 22% from international markets. The balance, obviously, from other domestic locations. This diversified geographic mix reduces concentration risk, smoothens cyclicality, and ensures resilience across demand cycles. In a sense, diversification is not incidental. It is deliberately designed to drive stability, scale, and sustainable growth.... Diversification is not only about revenue mix, it is also very important for capital efficiency. If you take the breakup of our operational portfolio, we have 32,300 keys, of which 68% are on a capital-light model, managed or fully fitted revenue share lease structures.
You would recall, those who have been with us for several years, that 8 years ago, this number was the other way around, that the capital heavy was around 78% and the capital light was 22%. This change in the ratios has enabled us to scale expansion with disciplined capital deployment, supporting margins and return ratios. More importantly, when we look at the pipeline, which is 30,200 keys under development, 30,200 keys is almost equal to the total number of operational keys that we have. 80% of our pipeline is managed, only 6% is owned or leased. Basically, 94% of the total pipeline is on a capital light model. This significantly enhances forward visibility on earnings growth with limited balance sheet intensity.
The result is a structurally strong business model, one that combines growth, margin expansion, and higher return on capital employed. With that, I move to section three, which is about portfolio and pipeline. With 361 operating hotels, 256 in pipeline, and a total portfolio of 617 hotels, IHCL today is India's largest hospitality ecosystem, spanning across 15 countries and 300+ unique locations. Importantly, this translates, as I mentioned previously, to 32,300 operational keys and an almost equal amount of 30,200 keys under development, which is an industry-leading pipeline that provides strong multi-year growth visibility. Moving on to section four is about partnerships and platforms. Having outlined the strength of our portfolio and pipeline, let me now move to partnerships and platforms, a key lever for accelerating inorganic growth and unlocking value.
We have completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in amã and Pride. We have signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 51% stake in Brij. We have also completed the acquisition of 51% stake in Atmantan. These transactions strengthen our presence in high growth segments, including mid-scale, experiential leisure, and holistic wellness, while further expanding our portfolio, scale, and geographic footprint. Importantly, these acquisitions are expected to contribute meaningfully in the range of INR 250-INR 300 crores to IHCL's consolidated top line in FY 2026-2027. Also, very important is that we have divested our stake in Taj GVK, generating INR 592 crores in cash while retaining management contracts for all GVK hotels. We have also signed another contract with the GVK Group, which we announced for a 250+ room hotel in Yelahanka in Bengaluru.
That is about to open in the next 3-4 months' time. All this reflects disciplined capital allocation, recycling capital from ownership into higher return, capital light growth opportunities. In a sense, we are sharpening the portfolio while strengthening our operating platform. A key focus area within our platform strategy is mid-scale expansion, about which we have been communicating with all of you over the last 5-7 years. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is about Ginger, which today has a portfolio of 110+ hotels, reinforcing its position as a category leader in the branded mid-scale segment. Post the migration and integration of Keys Plus Pride Hotels, the combined portfolio will comprise of 250+ hotels in this segment, significantly enhancing our scale, distribution reach, and owner network in this structurally under-penetrated segment.
We have already signed an addendum for 20 hotels for brand migration, with another 30 planned in the first half of FY 2027, demonstrating our momentum of execution. Today, the combined portfolio of Ginger and Keys Plus Pride has over 10,000 mid-scale operating keys, with approximately 24% market share of branded mid-scale inventory. These figures are as per a report from Lodging Econometrics. This scale provides operating leverage, stronger procurement economics, enhanced brand recall, and improved return metrics. Through partnerships and platform-led expansion, we are building not just incremental rooms, but scalable ecosystems that drive sustained growth, margin expansion, and long-term shareholder value.... With that, I would want to move to the last section on prospects and possibilities. We see 6 clear drivers that will shape the next phase of growth for IHCL.
First, like-for-like revenue growth momentum is expected to continue, supported by favorable demand supply dynamics in key markets and sharper asset management focus, something which we have been pursuing for last 7 years in a very focused and consequent fashion. Second, a strong forward pipeline, including balance sheet assets and Greenfield projects. This provides multi-year visibility on revenue and EBITDA expansion. Third, management fee income is set to grow in the high teens, driven by 60+ openings. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, 60+ openings in FY 2027, and sustained asset-light expansion on what we call a capital-light model. Fourth, Ginger and our new business verticals are expected to deliver 25%+ revenue growth, supported by integration benefits and scale efficiencies. Fifth, TajSATS to continue its growth trajectory on the back of travel buoyancy and structural tailwinds, such as new airports.
Sixth, strategic acquisitions such as Brij and Atmantan will deepen our presence in boutique leisure and integrated wellness segments, a much-awaited growth segment for the future. Collectively, these levers give us confidence in delivering double-digit revenue growth in FY 2026 and FY 2027, with improving quality of earnings and sustained margin strength. Let me just now address a few more issues before we come to the end of the call. Number one, favorable demand supply will continue to drive RevPAR growth. That is the core engine of value creation, is the continuous growth in RevPAR. And over the last few years, the sector has benefited from strong demand tailwinds and favorable supply dynamics. Importantly, we believe this is not cyclical alone, but structural change that is here to stay.
Because India's travel and tourism ecosystem continues to deepen, driven by rising disposable incomes, infrastructure investments, MICE demand, weddings, spiritual tourism, and premiumization of experiences. On the supply side, additions remain measured in several key micro markets, and this is ultimately supporting the RevPAR growth. For IHCL, this translates into continued pricing power across segments, improved mix and yield management, operating leverage flowing through to margins. As a result, we expect steady like-for-like revenue growth to remain a meaningful contributor to earnings expansion. Second, as I already mentioned, a strong forward pipeline as we are going to open a lot of hotels and our capital allocation remains disciplined. Our capital will be deployed only on high visibility locations.
Our focus will be on growth driven by management contracts or fully fitted revenue share lease models in the mid-scale segment, and selective capital deployment where strategic control and long-term value creation justify ownership. All these ensure multi-year revenue visibility, margin resilience, and strong return ratios. As you will all ask one question before you ask, let me address Taj Bandstand. That is a project which is both strategic and symbolic for IHCL and for the Taj brand and for our country, India. Excavation at the site has commenced since a few months, and the tendering process is currently underway. We are progressing in line with the planned milestones. Once completed, Taj Bandstand will be a state-of-the-art project, redefining the seafront skyline of Mumbai.
From a financial standpoint, upon stabilization, Taj Bandstand is expected to contribute INR 1,000+ crore to IHCL's top line, with EBITDA margins close to 50%. This reflects the premium positioning and strong operating leverage of luxury assets, which not only define the new skyline, but create iconic buildings for the new and buoyant India. We have put some renderings on the investor presentation, would welcome you to have a look through that. Number three is growth in management fee income, with 60+ expected openings in FY 2027 and sustained signings momentum, our asset-light model continues to strengthen. As the share of managed hotels rises, the quality of earnings improves and improves structurally. We expect management fee income to grow in the high teens, reinforcing both profitability and cash generation. Then comes new business, which is at an inflection point, which is our fourth lever.
This is emerging a significant growth engine for IHCL, and I've already mentioned the growth of Ginger in this segment, which is also getting support from Qmin, amã, and Tree of Life as we move ahead in the next years. TajSATS is consistently delivering on all fronts. Q3 revenue grew by 17% year-on-year, with an EBITDA margin of 26%. We only see this growth accelerating with newer airports coming in, as well as TajSATS is venturing into non-aviation business segments, which should help it diversify also the revenue base. Finally, strategic acquisitions, which is brands like Atmantan and Brij. And I think these acquisitions underline our strategy. First, Atmantan, this marks IHCL's foray into the niche, but fast-growing segment of integrated wellness in luxury hospitality.
This acquisition was completed a few weeks ago, and we plan to add several new wellness slots and additional rooms in this segment. This property and this brand is projected to generate revenue of approximately INR 100 crores in FY 2027, with strong margin characteristics aligned to the premium wellness positioning. Second, Brij. This represents a penetration into the boutique leisure space, a high-growth segment driven by experiential travel and curated stays. The definitive agreements have been signed. Acquisition is expected to be completed by March 31, 2026. This will also contribute approximately INR 100 crores in FY 2027 and provide IHCL with a differentiated offering in heritage and immersive leisure destinations. In conclusion, IHCL stands today on the strength of a fully diversified business model across brands, geographies, formats, and platforms, enabling us to scale with profitability and resilience.
We remain confident of delivering on our guidance of double-digit growth, supported by sustained margins, strong like-for-like momentum, and a robust pipeline that provides multi-year visibility. Our balance sheet remains healthy, with gross cash reserves of over INR 3,800 crores, despite having built a few of our own assets like Cochin International Airport, Taj, or Vivanta and Ginger in Ekta Nagar, investments into our core assets and our trophy assets, like London or Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba or Taj Lands End. As you would recall, in the last quarter call, when we talked about the rooms being out of order for the Taj Palace in Delhi, which was around 130 rooms, which have been renovated. However, and having said that, we will continue to invest in our core competitive advantages, our iconic physical assets, our diversified brandscape, and most, most importantly, our people.
With scale, strength, and strategic clarity, we are well positioned to shape the next phase of growth and to continue delivering sustainable long-term value for our shareholders. Thank you for listening, and we will now open the call for questions.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to please use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question comes from the line of Shaleen Kumar from UBS, India. Please go ahead.
Hi, can I, can I unmute me?
Yes, you are audible. Yes, yes.
Hi. Sorry. First of all, congratulations on a good set of numbers. Just to understand, we have a 9% RevPAR growth. Can we get a sense of, like, contribution of ARR growth and slash occupancy?
We have given that, Shaleen, on this time, as we had promised in several calls, by brand. And because, you know, there is RevPAR growth and RevPAR growth, which is very different than mid-scale-
Mm-hmm. Yes.
and at what base we are talking about.
Sure.
So our growth in... firstly, let me go by brand. At Taj is at 8% at a base of INR 22,000. In Vivanta, SeleQtions and Gateway is 10%, and in Ginger is also around 9%. So the majority of the growth is coming driven by average room rate, which, if we take everything together, comes to 7%, which accounts for the 9% RevPAR growth. So 7% is ARR growth.
Got it, sir. Sir, if I can ask, like, how's the 4Q going on in terms of the RevPAR? Any sense on that?
You see, I personally prefer to talk about TRevPAR, but I know that we always get the same question on RevPAR. I think it would be fair to assume anything in a similar trend or even higher. It is definitely not lower. So it would be fair to assume approximately a double-digit growth number. If not, then it could be 9, it could be 8.8. But I think, with a bit of tailwind that we are currently having, we could get anything between 9%-10% RevPAR growth, but definitely you should expect a total revenue growth in a similar range as you have experienced in the past. So I would say 12%-14% in Q4 as a top line growth is realistic.
Okay. So you think RevPAR growth of-
Mm-hmm?
Yes, sir, go ahead.
Go ahead. Go ahead, Shaleen.
No, no. I was, like, pinning down till, till now, we are seeing double-digit RevPAR growth, you said that?... Till now?
Yeah, so I was just saying that till now, quarter to date, is actually, you know, comfortably above, comfortably in double digit. We'll see how the quarter plays out. And because we have, you know, I think big events lined up in the next couple of weeks, so we'll see how the quarter and February month plays out.
Sure, sure, sure, sure. Got it, sir. Got it. Just changing towards strategy. I would really like to hear about Atmantan. So few questions around it. Any sense of its positioning, like the, in terms of the, what are the key it pairs it have? And in terms of your expansion plan, like, what kind of a CapEx are you thinking you will be needing? Like, does it need a bigger CapEx or a small CapEx, multiple location, et cetera? And in terms of the returns and margins, if we can get some sense of that, because I think that could be a big sector going forward. So if you can give some color on that bit.
In the short term, which when I say short term, I think the next three years or so, we expect-
Mm-hmm.
To grow Atmantan, with the founders, in a hybrid fashion. I don't think we will have all growth coming through own. There is a lot of interest, in Atmantan brand. So if we did, let's say four projects, at least two would be on a Capital Light Model, and two could be owned by us. We would definitely want to have one additional asset in the west, and, and a minimum of one in Kerala. That takes us to three. And another one in south, in the area of Hyderabad, because it has, a lot of demand there and, very, very affluent base. And maybe one, in the north or in the east, I mean, the, in the hill areas.
But the order of priority would be like this: the west and Kerala being top priority, followed by the others. That's our three-year plan. We haven't gone and seen beyond that because the acquisition only completed less than four weeks ago.
Just to add, with the margins, we kind of disclosed the six monthly margins when we did the announcement. So they are comfortably above 40%. And for the full year, we expect it to be in high 40s% only. So I think that's something which we think will sustain over the next year as well. And the pipeline will. We'll get more color on the pipeline as we integrate and move forward, as to see where, which are the locations where we can sort of provide to, you know, to Atmantan to expand. But that's a journey we have just started, like Mr. Chhatwal said, so we'll get more clarity in the next couple of quarters on that.
All right, sir. Just, just one last bit on that. What kind of CapEx per, per project we need, and, like, how big are these projects?
These are typically 25-35 acres kind of projects. So large land areas located outside cities, close to a big airport, because a lot of clientele is also offshore from foreign-
Mm.
NRI clients or just foreigners. So you do need connectivity. And then, of course, the location has to be in a place where you can actually benefit from the whole wellness angle. So whether it's near or overlooking a mountain or a beach or close to a river, you know. So those, those are the typical locations. So leisure locations, high-end, and it's not, it's not actually CapEx per room kind of a metric here, because it's also how many, how many wellness slots you sort of put in, how many treatment rooms you put in, and what kind of medical facilities you put in. This, as you know, is an accurate facility medically.
Mm-hmm.
It's a combination of all of those things which goes into CapEx.
Okay. Got it, sir. All right. All right, sir, thank you so much. I'll join back the queue. Thank you. Best of luck.
Thank you.
Thank you, Charlie.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Prateek Kumar from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good evening, sir. My first question is on your reported margins. So we have, like, had, like, stable margins year on year. There's a mention of some one-off expenses during the quarter in your slides. Can you quantify this one-off number and impact on the margins with that?
Should be around INR 20 crore-INR 25 crore, Prateek. Of course, we've been on a journey of acquisitions. It obviously increases legal expenses, it increases technical expenses, it includes deal expenses, due diligence expenses. These are some of the one-offs, and some others are related to GST. And anything else you would like to add on?
No, I think that, that are the big hits. GST particularly has been an expense which we think will, will utilize in the next quarter. So that will probably explain half of the impact. And then the deal expenses and some, related to the marketing events, which happened one-off in this quarter. So I think all put together will be in the INR 20-25 crore zone. Adjusted for those, the margin would have, been higher, and the growth in the EBITDA would be at least a couple of percentage higher.
Prateek, as a strategy, I think, if we are going to have in a quarter like quarter three, on a consolidated basis, which includes, you know, also international assets, margin close to 40%, and on standalone 48%, we are happy with that. Our main focus will be to grow, scale profitably in all the new businesses that we have started, and also asset manage the great assets that we have, so that we can drive more and more revenue per square foot. So I think in doing so, all these things work in a certain way. The more we do for this long term, the more we displace in the short term. So like I said, Taj Palace, you take out the inventory, so there is a displacement that happens.
Sometimes delays happen because of, what you call GRAP in Delhi, that you have to stop construction, which is beyond your control. So there are things like this that happen. But if we can maintain margins close to 39%-40% on consolidated in a Q3 and a 48% on a standalone, we are very pleased with that. We don't mind getting more, but then we would not be doing justice to the iconic assets and the positioning we have, which in long term will not help us to get those premium average rates that we are enjoying today.
Right. Just delivering on this further, you-- like in your opening remarks, multiple times you mentioned about steady margins. So we should be, like, looking at maybe higher revenue growth and maybe similar EBITDA growth, because we generally thought that there are like few line items, like management contracts, which can drive your EBITDA margin expansion year-on-year. But we are looking at-- I mean, while you talk about consolidated margins as 40% is something which you desire, so your core margins, or like non-management contract margin seems to be then probably lower year-on-year, and management contract is, like, expected to be 70%. Is that the way we should understand?
No, I think typically it should be like this, if you want to understand this: If the top line growth in our kind of diversified portfolio is around 10%, then the EBITDA growth could be 15, and the PAT growth could be 20. I mean, this is how... If you look at our investor presentation, which will show you this kind of a trend, on, on quarter basis, you will see on standalone and on consolidated, that the Q3 shows a 14%, 17%, and 20%. Now, there could be an improvement on that 17 and 20 if the revenue CAGR is 14. Similarly, if you look at nine months, it shows 13 and again 17. That's what I meant by improvement, but the PAT goes to 23 in that slide.
I think this is the way to look at it, that approximately you can add, whatever the top line is, you could add another 10 percentage points or double that for the PAT, and somewhere in between is the growth in your EBITDA.
Sure. Moving on to other question. How are you looking at the New York asset now? There was, like, some news recent, I mean, a few months back, you're looking to exit that station. How, what, any update there?
Don't believe everything that is written. There is a very famous saying: "You never eat as hot as it's cooked." We are very much there. We are operating it. The New York asset, for the first time since we have it, in the month of December, crossed INR 100 crore in revenue, and we are, for the first time, in a lucky situation of cash profit. Even San Francisco has done well. You will see that in the details. It's very iconic, Fifth Avenue, we would like to keep it. We're in negotiations. We would know more maybe by the next quarter call that we have, as to where we stand, but definitely exit is not our preferred option.
Also, we have clarified that that was, you know, basically news which was not true when that came out, in the sense that basically which said that we'll get $X billion, because we are not the owners of the asset. We have a lease right on the asset, so that's what we are engaging with the owners of the asset.
Sure. I have more questions. I'll get back to the queue.
Thank you, Prateek.
Thanks.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Karan Khanna from Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi, good evening. Thanks for taking my questions. Firstly, Puneet, you spoke about Taj Bandstand. On Slide 15, if I look at the revenue potential of the asset, is it safe to assume that you're building an ARR of around INR 38,000-INR 40,000 at 78%-80% occupancy at the time of stabilization? And, can you reiterate the timelines for first year of stabilization? And when you're building these numbers, what kind of ARR growth are you penciling in here over, let's say, next 5-7 years, by when the asset should stabilize?
Both on occupancy and rate, you could go marginally higher, and, the year of stabilization should... In such an asset, it does not take more than three years to stabilize. It all depends if we are able to complete by 2030 or 2029 or 2031. It's very difficult to say that today because we are building a 164-meter-tall building, and a part of the construction is in water. You know, there are things that happen in terms of climate and other things which are beyond anybody's reasonable control. So we do believe that given our experience of Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba and the kind of revenue it already does today, in seven years from now, we could have the same base as that, as that what we have guided for, which is INR 1,000 crore plus, as the revenue base for the-...
For the full year of revenue. So, I mean, for the first full year of revenue, and maybe going up 10% year-on-year to a higher number by the seventh year from now, which means four and a half years to build, another three to operate.
Sure, this is helpful. Secondly, just shifting gears to this quarter, given that this was the first quarter after quite a while, where the growth was entirely like-for-like, so is 11%-12% consolidated revenue growth something you expect to remain largely constant going ahead into Q4 and FY 2027 as well? And in the past, you used to talk about double-digit RevPAR growth, and now double-digit revenue growth. So are you now seeing the rate growth cycle close to peaking, especially given that even for Ginger, the RevPAR growth was around 8%?
That is not accurate. We said we still talk about very high, RevPAR growth. That's why we said we'll start guiding by brand, and, that's what we have tried to do it, this time. The growth is there, and the growth is very robust. We feel, as I said during my opening remarks, 12%-14% growth going forward, of which maybe I can repeat only 8.5%-9.5% comes through RevPAR.
A lot of growth will come from not like-for-like growth if you're going to open 60 hotels, and some of the growth will obviously come from F&B and other revenue sources that we have, whether it's a private membership club, or it is doing the Padel court or the pickleball, or whatever else we might be doing in terms of ancillary revenues, including our spa business. Given the kind of base that we have, Karan, if we get to 12%-14% growth, our flow-throughs can be very high. We had certain costs, because if in a period of 3-4 months you acquire a few companies, then the due diligence costs, the travel costs, the legal costs, all these fees go up by a significant amount.
We expect all this to settle down by this quarter, which is the Q4, and we will continue our growth journey. I'm not saying we will not, but in all these years we did not acquire so many portfolios or brands as we have done in just 4 months alone. And opened at the same time, 2 company-owned hotels, as I mentioned also before, in Ekta Nagar, 1 Ginger, 1 Vivanta, plus, earlier part of the year, the Taj at Cochin International Airport. So these are all startup costs that come in, because before the hotel goes into renovation and you have a company-owned asset, it creates a startup cost. But happy to report that within the first 100 days, already we have had a breakeven on these assets.
Yeah, I think both the assets which opened last quarter are now EBITDA positive, and that's a good sign for the new assets which have opened.
Sure. And then lastly, just on the acquisition opportunities that are available, while some of the recent acquisitions, including Atmantan, Brij Hospitality, et cetera, while, certainly value accretive, are still relatively smaller in size, given your current scale. So are you looking at any big-ticket acquisitions, and are you seeing viable opportunities, that are currently available in the market?
If anything comes, we are well positioned from having no debt and having cash to take advantage of that. But let's not forget, those acquisitions that we did were mainly to consolidate and make our mid-market presence the strongest. So that post our majority of the market share, more than 50% of the market share in flight catering business is with TajSATS. That we achieved something similar in the mid-scale segment, because with Taj, obviously we are very, very strong. With a portfolio close to almost 150 hotels and more than 90 in operation. So, so I think this is the reason we did that. We didn't do it because the ticket size was small or the revenue was this or the revenue was that.
In a segment like Ginger, you need scale, and it took us 25 years to get to 70 hotels in operation, and but within one year we will get to more than 200 hotels in operation. And that's when you go through the presentation and you see the map of India, which I think my colleagues are pointing out, it's a Slide 10 on the presentation. It will give you a very good snapshot of how and what - how Ginger would look like and what to expect from it in the next 12-18 months.
Great. Thank you, Puneet. All the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Achal Kumar from HSBC. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for taking my question.
Achal, you are very faint. Can you speak up? We can't hear you.
Is it better now?
Yeah, much better. Please go ahead.
Okay, perfect. Thanks, Ankur. So basically, first of all, sorry, I joined a bit late, so kindly excuse me if you already answered question. First question, I want to understand what happened to your management fee? I mean, you know, so in the third quarter, management fee, actually, the growth was slower than what you reported in first quarter and second quarter. What's happening there? And then secondly, just to ask one by one, how do you see your wellness entrance now? And are you sort of intent to grow there? How do you see the wellness overall in the country doing? Thanks.
... Yeah, I think the management fee for the quarter was about 15% growth, which is in line with our expectations. I think you know what happens when you look at it from a quarter-to-quarter perspective, there are incentives move from one quarter to another quarter, depending on the performance, the incentive fee. But if you look at our guidance on the next year's outlook, I think which is more relevant, I think is you can see that we should end the year with a close to 18% growth on a YOY basis, and the next year should be similar. That's what we are guiding towards high teens growth on the management fee. Given the strong pipeline of openings with large portion coming up in the first half, and, you know, that should really add to the management fee growth.
Plus, the fact that, you know, whatever is open will stabilize, and you will have, you know, RevPAR expansion in the new hotels, which kind of get to higher occupancy as they stabilize. So I think, no, no, nothing unusual. It's just a normal business which moves up and down in a quarter. But overall, we think this will continue to grow at, you know, high teens for the next year, and then over a long-term period, mid to high teens.
And on the wellness side, please?
On the wellness side, like it's mentioned earlier, I think this is just closed the transaction, you know, just about three weeks, four weeks back. So we are obviously excited with the partnership because it's an ideal fit from our luxury positioning. There is definitely a very strong interest to do add more Atmantan. This is not going to be a brand which should get to, like, 100 Atmantan, but definitely over the next, by 2030, exit 2030, we should be looking at having 3-5 more Atmantans. And that's a plan we will actually work on with the management team in the next couple of quarters, put the strategy together for Atmantan.
But you know, organically itself, there is growth opportunity in the, in the current asset, which will add both rooms and wellness lots in the next financial year, and take the revenues close to about INR 100 crore in the coming years. So, you know, that should give us good growth. And plus, the margins for this business are very high, so this is typically north of 40%-45% kind of margin. Given that, you know, this is essentially a rooms-heavy business, although we don't—there is no concept of ARR and RevPAR in this, but essentially when you sell a package, you're selling it as a combined thing for treatments, as well as for stay, as well as for food and beverage. And as you know, the beverage here is really, you know, soft beverages.
There's no hard beverage. All of that put together gives you a pretty high flow-through on the bottom line.
Okay. And then if I may, if I may squeeze one more. Basically, in terms of ARRs, so, ARRs in most of the cities which you reported except Rajasthan, were sort of in low single, I mean, high single digits. While, I think most of the peers, you know, have reported, except Mumbai, I think Delhi, I think, Bangalore, you know, they reported very, very strong ARR. So what's, what's happening, you know, and then I'm talking about the luxury hotels like Leela and all. So why-- What's happening with Indian Hotels, especially in those markets where ARRs are reporting very high by the peers?
Not, not really getting into what the peers have reported, but I think in general, if you see the growth on revenues across cities, it's a healthy mix, with most of them doing well. I think the only city which has grown slower was, you know, Delhi and Bombay, which was 7%, 8%. And because we had some one-off business in the previous year, which did not get repeated in Bombay, particularly. And then Delhi was, as you know, was impacted because of Taj Palace renovation, which is now out of the way, so we should see that uptick also in Q4. But a lot of markets have done well, whether it is Rajasthan, Bangalore, Goa. Goa, 10% growth. So I think overall, you can see it's a pretty secular growth across the board. You want to add anything?
Achal, we can take it offline, but you should look at the base. You know, the base of Taj is very high, and there comes a point that, you know, you cannot... When you are a small company with a smaller base, suppose you are like a INR 30 crore PAT or a INR 50 crore PAT, you say 10% more is 55. But if you are already at INR 1,500 crore PAT, and then you have to add 10%, means you have to add 150. So that's a big difference. We are still ahead in most of the markets, but we also have multiple brand presence. Multiple brand presence gives us scale, gives us that revenue, but also dilutes sometimes some of the metrics at a high level, if you take them.
But if you took a hotel by hotel, the Taj Palace in Delhi is number one in its comp set. The Mansingh in Delhi is among the top two in the comp set. Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba is number one. Taj Lands End has always been almost number one. So it cannot be that others may be reporting, maybe because they had a lower base. But on the STR statistics, I think most of our trophy assets are doing quite well and are always either number one or number two in any given market. And then, obviously, comes the size of the property in play. So if our competitor is double in inventory, then they may not be number one very easily, and if we are double, then it's vice versa.
So because there are so many shoulder days where you have to fill up the rooms. So I think that is not the-- generally, the sector is doing well. Everyone is doing well. And, and that is what has enabled us to do 15 consecutive record quarters. And I have no-
Yeah.
Nothing suggests today that Q4 will not be the same. There is nothing that suggests, or Q1 as a start of the next year would be any different. I don't see that coming.
... Right. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you, Puneet. I'll come back in the queue. Thanks.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Srilekha with J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity too. Just a quick question on the international RevPAR performance. Of course, last quarter also it was stronger, this quarter again, also showing up in the margin performance for the U.S. and U.K. entities. How much of it do you think is, you know, currency driven? Is that a significant tailwind here, or are you seeing structural improvement in demand in these markets? And what kind of revenue-
Very-
-do you expect in terms of, you know-
Very, very good, very good question. Very good question, because it's very interesting. You know, a year and a half ago, six weeks ago, everyone had written off San Francisco, and it's coming back. It's not at the same level as its peak used to be, but it's back by 75%-80%, and the challenges of that market have you know, kind of subsided, and there is a lot of improvement. So our RevPAR improvement in San Francisco in Q3 is 50% versus the previous year. But the base had gone down so much that that 50% is good to have, but should have been maybe 60% or 70%. So we expect that increase to happen. New York for us has started doing much better than ever was the case, for as long as anybody follows us.
For the last five, six quarters, New York has improved both in top line as well as in bottom line. Cape Town is doing very well. One asset where we had the similar situation, even now as we speak, is London. We have invested significant amount of money in London. So as we speak today, the banqueting facility, the lobby, the lobby bar, the lounges there, all is under renovation, and some rooms also. So all that is expected to start coming back into operation between end of February and end of March, and that should give us a very big boost in definitely Q1 of the next financial year, because, you know, that inventory will just come back now. So I think all four properties, you can expect them to do well. On management contract basis, Dubai has been performing well.
Where we expect some improvement is in international, in Sri Lanka and in Maldives. They're not doing that great. Those markets, you know, are a bit more, have been a bit more volatile for us. And otherwise, we are very pleased with the performance overseas. And one more asset to watch out definitely in Q1, not in this quarter of next year, would be that definitely Taj Frankfurt would have opened. And in the Q1, somewhere towards the middle or towards the end, we would also open our first safari at the Kruger National Park, and followed by the second one in the same park in November of next year.
Understood. Thank you for all the details. But how much of it is currency driven that you have seen in this quarter specifically? And would it mean that we can see growth from these businesses inch up even higher in terms of RevPAR, in the next, say, two, three quarters, maybe, even go up to mid or teens hotel RevPAR growth?
So, on the currency front, it'd be about 1.5%-2% impact benefit of that, which flowed to the consolidated numbers on account. 1.5% on the RevPAR of these hotels, not on the overall numbers. So if this was 10%, basically it was 8% in local currency, it would have been 10% reported.
Understood. That's very helpful. So, just on the domestic side then, would it be fair to say that, you know, the kind of 7%-8% RevPAR growth is something that is going to be a more normal trend going ahead for the next couple of years? Or do you see, you know, any room for further expansion there?
You know, I've been saying it, I think whether it's, I've said it many times, I say it again, anything between 8.5%-10% over our portfolio is realistic. That's one. But for us, more important is the not like-for-like growth. We could be doing over the next year, at least 14 new hotels, which are not part of Ama, Ginger , or other portfolio, which will come on top. So I think our that percentage growth, plus F&B growth, plus spa, plus Chambers, you know, our I think should definitely give us anything between 12%-14% top line growth. RevPAR is only one metric.
Also in India, it is much lower. I mean, it's not like the Western world as compared to where the revenues are much more.
Yeah, international world, 60%-80% in the Western Hemisphere, your revenue is driven by RevPAR. In India, depending on which brand, but let's take an example of Taj, is less than 50% is driven by RevPAR. Does that answer?
Yes. Yes, thank you. This is very helpful. That's all from my side.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Akash Gupta from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Hi, am I audible?
Yes, Akash, please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Congratulations on great performance. My question was for Slide 21. For the standalone, ARR growth was roughly 6% on a year-over-year basis. I think that is slightly on the lower side. I just wanted to know your thoughts around that. And then when we say in FY 2027, we are going to do roughly 8%-9% RevPAR growth, how much of that would be driven by ARR or occupancy? Because I think we're already at peak occupancy.
Sorry, I had asked Ankur to answer, but I want to answer this.
No, please.
You see, Q3 is undisputedly the best quarter ever that we have had for as long as people follow hotel business. Your RevPAR in this quarter is already at such a high level, there is only so much more you can drive in terms of that like-for-like, because we are like an iconic hotel company with being there for a long time. So if you look at on the consolidated side, in the same slide, you see the room revenue growth at 11%. So you're only looking at standalone, and standalone has some of those assets that we own, but that does not include assets like Rambagh Palace, which is on management. We have Umaid Bhawan Palace, it's also on management. The rates there, in the peak in Q3 get close to INR 100,000.
So that is a difference in how we report. So somewhere we get a benefit on the percentage, and in other places, we get the benefit through the management fee income. So in the case of standalone, Jai Mahal Palace in Jaipur is included, but Rambagh Palace is not. Hari Mahal in Jodhpur is included, but Umaid Bhawan Palace is not. The rate in Jai Mahal is less than half of Rambagh Palace, and then Hari Mahal is also less than half of Umaid Bhawan Palace. That's why we came up. You know, eight years ago, when we first guided, we came up with the most iconic and most profitable. Most iconic because we have these iconic assets which we have to always, you know, kind of polish and keep them as the crown jewels of the company.
Most profitable because Jai Mahal profitability is far higher to us and the income from Jai Mahal than Rambagh has. It depends how we read these numbers, because everything that we have in standalone may not be our best asset.
Understood, sir. Thank you so much. That was my question.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Sameet Sinha with Macquarie Capital. Please go ahead.
Yes, thank you very much. A couple of questions. First is, Puneet, you were talking about 12%-14% revenue growth for the fourth quarter. Did you say that it should—that 12%-14% should continue into the next year as well? And if yes, then it should... Okay. Okay.
Absolutely.
That includes the INR 300 crore of acquisitions, correct?
That includes that, yeah.
Yeah.
Not like-for-like, growth is an important component of our-
Right. Right. Right.
Yeah.
Absolutely. The second question is, can you talk about, you know, the renovations that you undertook at some pretty marquee properties? What's the experience been? How much increase in ARR or occupancy are you seeing that you can attribute to the renovations? And if you can also tell us if you have other renovations planned through this year or how much of a visibility you have? That will at least help us, you know, at least understand model development.
Approximately, we have guided on that before. Also, approximately INR 1,000 crores in CapEx, which includes routine and new, and also renovation or expansion. For example, we have done the Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba, the Chambers, or we did the new restaurant, Loya. We're going to do an Italian out there. We just finished the two floors in Taj Palace. The rates have almost doubled versus two years ago. So post-renovation, not just of the renovated rooms, but of the entire hotel. So it's pushed the entire hotel, ahead. Same things, we have, noticed in London, in terms of first comes displacement, but then comes the other monies. Mans ingh is a very good example.
Mans ingh, despite 89% increase in rent and INR 250 crore in renovation, it actually makes more money on absolute amount now than it ever made in the, you know, when the rent was only 17.25%. That's Taj Mahal, Delhi. Our Chambers membership fees has increased 5x in last eight years and is going to double very soon because of all the investment that has gone into the new Chambers that we have built in the West End, the renovation in London, the renovation in Colaba, the ongoing renovation of the Chambers in London. So all these things obviously create future income streams, which are very high margin businesses also, and give us a lot more stability, which is not dependent on any form of cyclicality.
Got it. Okay, that makes sense. Just, you know, one final question. How about CapEx? You gave us a number for this year. Has that number changed for, let's say, the next three or five years, or is it still as going as per plan?
I think we can only talk about next year because we have more visibility on that. But broadly speaking, I think it will be in a similar zone as what we're going to do this year. So maybe ±5%-10%. That's what we think we'll end up doing in cash outflow next year on CapEx. I think long term, it could move up a little bit in, let's say, 2-3 years from now as the Bandstand project starts to scale up. So I think that's what it will be. But I think the good thing is that our operating cash flows are far ahead of these numbers, so we will not have any problem of funding these capital expenditures.
In fact, we have left with, plus cash to figure out how to spend, and that's something which we continue looking at attractive, attractive opportunities on an organic side.
Got it. Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen... Sorry.
Sorry. Yeah. Thank you. I think we can now close the call, but I'll let you go ahead first.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. That would be our last question for today. Puneet, sir, would you like to proceed with any closing comments?
Yes. Well, thank you everyone for joining the conference call. Thank you for your questions. Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to interacting with all of you during the quarter and of course, definitely, post-announcement of our full year results. We remain optimistic about the outlook, and the first six weeks of the fourth quarter give us definitely the optimism that is needed to say that we are on a good track of what you have witnessed in the last foregone fifteen quarters. Thank you very much, everyone. Have a wonderful evening.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.