Lemon Tree

 Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Monday, Nifty closed in the green at 15,789 (+0.02%). Among the sectoral indices, Realty (+3.2%), PVT Bank (+0.4%), and Bank (+0.4%) closed higher. IT (-0.5%), Metal (-0.2%), and Media (-0.2%) closed in the red. Ultra tech (+2.5%), Grasim (+2.3%), and Shree cement (+1.9%) were the top gainers. Adani Ports (-1.5%), BPCL (-1.4%), and Bharti Airtel (-1.2%) were among the top losers.

Excerpts of an interview of Mr Patanjali Keswani, Chairman and MD, Lemon Tree Hotels with CNBC-TV18 dated 7^th July 2021:

• On the current situation, Mr Keswani said the demand started picking up from 4QFY21.
• The hotels were earning up to 50% of pre-Covid levels on a month-on-month basis.
• The occupancy witnessed a decline in the month of April 21 and by the month of May, witnessed the lowest occupancy level for the sector as well. This was led by localized lockdowns and fear of travelling.
• In June, there was a pickup in demand. For the Company, the occupancy was higher than 50%. Lemon tree hotels witnessed a 70% revenue growth in July 21 on an MoM basis.
• Speaking about business hotels, which is 80% of the total inventory for Lemon Tree. They are doing well.
• On newly opened, Aurika which is a deluxe hotel in Udaipur, he said the occupancy is 80-90%.
• He said 3QFY22E looks promising led by the inquiries that are coming. 4QFY22E is expected to be a normal quarter.
• He said the debt is at comfort levels. The earning capacity of additional rooms has not been utilized, once things normalize the additional rooms will start contributing.

Asset Multiplier comments:

• We believe postponed weddings in 1QFY22 might lead to higher demand in 2QFY22E. This might further increase the occupancy rate of hotels.

 Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

• The closing price of Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd was ₹ 43 as of 07-July 2021.  It traded at 143x the consensus earnings per share estimate of ₹ 0.3/- for FY23E. The Company is expected to report a loss of ₹ 1/- per share.
• The consensus average target price is ₹ 45/- which implies a PE multiple of 150x on FY23E EPS of 0.3/-.

Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Monday, NIFTY closed at 14,676 (-2.0%). Top gainers in NIFTY50 were Adani Ports (+2.8%), JSW Steel (+2.3%), and Hindalco (+2.0%). The top losers were Eicher Motors (-5.1%), M&M (-4.7%), and Tech M (-4.6%). The top sectoral gainers were METAL (+1.6%), and sectoral losers were MEDIA (-3.4%), IT (-2.9%) and REALTY (-2.8%)
Excerpts of an interview with Mr. Vikramjit Singh, President, Lemon Tree Hotels (LEMONTREE) with CNBC -TV18 dated 19^th February 2021

• The COVID-19 pandemic hit the hospitality sector hard and things are just starting to look up now.
• The large corporates are the biggest laggards predominantly because the IT companies have not started travel; their employees are still working from home. Therefore, this segment has seen the slowest recovery.
• However, the big surprise is the leisure/retail segment; they have not only recovered but today their retail contribution is about 115-120 percent of pre-COVID levels.
• In tier-I cities occupancies are now catching up, they are roughly about 20 percent below pre-COVID level but the big dip is in the average room rate (ARR), the average rates today are still 40-50 percent below what they were for the same period pre-COVID so the revenue recovery has not happened. Tier-II is doing very well.
• On the expansion front, Lemon Tree opened 5 hotels in the COVID fiscal and will open hotels in Coorg, Port Blair, Dehradun, Mumbai and other places.
• In the COVID fiscal, they have opened 5 hotels; they opened hotels in Dwarka, Aligarh, Jhansi, Vijayawada and Goa.
• So today, as things stand, they have about 8,300 rooms in 84 hotels across 51 cities and they have 2,200 room additions in the pipeline.

Asset Multiplier comments:

• The most talked-about trend that is fast catching up in Resorts & Hotels is Work away from home, where guests experience a completely new and refreshing environment. As most of the corporates have extended WFH till the second half of 2021, this trend will be embraced by most working professionals.
• The onset of COVID-19 and the subsequent travel restrictions and nation-wide lockdown, however, have had an unprecedented impact on the sector.
• Upscale/Luxury Leisure and Branded Economy/Mid-market business hotels are expected to lead the recovery growth in the sector.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener and investing.com websites)

• The closing price of LEMONTREE was ₹ 41/- as of 22-February-2021.  It traded at NM/ NM/ 215x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹ -1.9/ -0.8/ 0.2 for FY21E/22E/23E respectively.
• The consensus price target is ₹ 40/- which trades at 209x the earnings estimate for FY23E of ₹2/-

Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”