The Hindu Business Line : Indian Hotels Q3 net up 31% on occupancy

Mumbai, Jan. 28 The Indian Hotels Co Ltd, which owns the Taj Group of hotels, reported a 31 per cent rise in its net profit for the third quarter of the current fiscal to touch Rs 134.58 crore, against Rs 102.56 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Healthy improvement of average room rates and occupancy levels across portfolio boosted the profit, Mr Raymond N. Bickson, Managing Director of the company, told presspersons here.

It reported a total income of Rs 527.11 crore, which was higher than the corresponding quarter’s income by 15 per cent.

During the quarter, Samsara Properties Ltd, a 100 per cent overseas subsidiary of the company, acquired a further 0.56 per cent of Common Stock A of Orient Express Hotels for $14.06 million.

Effectively, Samsara now holds 11.57 per cent the of Common Stock A of Orient Express, which was acquired at an aggregate cost of $246.90 million.

Five new hotels

Mr Bickson said the Taj Group was scheduled to launch five new star hotels in Bangalore, Chennai, and Thiruvananthapuram and a leisure hotel in Thimpu (Bhutan) in the early part of the first quarter of 2008-09. It was adding another 150 rooms to the Lands End hotel in Mumbai.

He said the company would now be more flexibile on the price front for their Ginger hotels, but these will still be below the budget class of hotels.

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