175% Dividend: TATA Group Stock Declares Q4 Results; Buy The Rekha Jhunjhunwala Portfolio Stock?

 

The largest hospitality firm in India, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), released its consolidated financial reports for the fourth quarter and full year that ended on March 31, 2024. Eight straight quarters of record financial performance, powered by double-digit sales growth, were recorded in Q4 FY24. Additionally, a 175% dividend has been recommended by the Tata Group firm. The shares of Indian Hotels Company closed 5.10% down at Rs 577.25 each after the aforementioned statement.

Indian Hotels Company Dividend 

The Board of Directors "Recommended a dividend of Rs 1.75/- per Equity Share of Rs 1/- each fully paid up of the Company @ 175 % (previous year Rs 1/- per Equity Share of Rs 1/- each fully paid up @ 100%), subject to the approval of the Members at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. Accordingly, the dividend payable on one Equity Share of Rs 1/- each fully paid up will amount to Rs 1.75/- (One rupee Seventy Five paise only) and the dividend payable on Hundred Equity Shares of Rs 1/- each fully paid up will amount to Rs 175/- (One Hundred and Seventy Five rupees only)," said Indian Hotels Company in a statement on Wednesday.

Indian Hotels Company Q4 Results 

The company reported a consolidated revenue of Rs 1,951 Cr in the quarter ended March 31st, 2024 which is a growth of 18% YoY whereas EBITDA stood at Rs 706 Cr representing a growth of 25% YoY. During Q4FY24, the company recorded a net profit of Rs 418 Cr, up 27% YoY from Q4FY23. 

For the full year ended March 31st, 2024, the company's revenue jumped 17% to Rs 6,952 Cr, EBITDA climbed 20% to Rs 2,340 Cr whereas net profit surged 26% to Rs 1,259 Cr.

Mr. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director & CEO, IHCL, said, "IHCL achieves its key goals under Ahvaan 2025 well ahead of time with a full year consolidated EBITDA margin of 33.7%, a portfolio of 300+ hotels and a cash position of INR 2,206 crores. Q4 FY24 marked eight consecutive quarters of record financial performance driven by double-digit revenue growth in same store hotels, incremental revenue from not like for like hotels and scaling of new businesses. With 53 signings in FY2024 IHCL achieved a portfolio of 310 hotels, enabled by attaining scale in each of our brands and forming strategic alliances in new market segments."

He added, "Looking ahead at FY2025, IHCL will continue to deliver double digit revenue growth with new businesses at 30%, and opening of 25 hotels. IHCL will also introduce the re-imagined Gateway, a full-service hotel offering in the upscale segment, an ideal fit to capture growth opportunities in emerging micro markets in metros and Tier II and Tier III cities. The brand roll-out starting with 15 hotels will commence with launches in Bekal and Nashik this quarter followed by destinations like Bengaluru, Thane and Jaipur. The brand will scale to a 100 hotels portfolio by 2030." 

"Investing in our competitive advantage of optimising the balance between operating leverage and fee-based business, IHCL has commenced a five-year capital deployment plan from FY2023 to FY2027 totalling INR 3,500 crores towards key asset upgradation, building capabilities and select new projects. This includes strengthening of our digital capabilities with new brand website launches starting May 2024, implementation of a new ERP system and Data Lake for advanced analytics with AI/ML capabilities," Puneet Chhatwal further commented.