Hospitality industry will see strong recovery after crisis ends: Indian Hotels

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Wednesday, Nifty closed -0.5% lower at 8,749.  The top gainers for Nifty 50 were Vedanta (+3.7), Sun Pharma (+4.8%) and Cipla (+4.6%) while the losing stocks for the day were Shree Cement (-3.8%), TCS (-3.8%) and Titan (-3.7%). The sectoral gainers were NIFTY Pharma (+3.5%), NIFTY Auto (+1.9%) and NIFTY Media (+1.8%). The losing sectors were NIFTY Realty (-1.4%), NIFTY IT (-0.8%) and NIFTY Bank (-0.6%).

Edited excerpts of an interview with Mr Puneet Chhatwal, MD and CEO of The Indian Hotels Company Ltd.; dated 7^th April 2020. The interview aired on CNBC-TV18.

• The travel, tourism and hospitality sector has been hit hard across the world in early March.
• In India, occupancy levels at hotels are close to zero due to the nationwide lockdown. Indian Hotels reveals that the average occupancy rate at the group’s hotels has fallen by 90%. Hotels are more or less empty, with some islands of excellence in extended stays at Indian Hotel apartments in Mumbai, which are always occupied.
• The Indian hospitality and tourism business has another equally important component and that is the food and beverage business. With all the restaurants, bars, gym, salon and spas shut, the revenue drop is significant for the industry, according to Mr Chhatwal.
• According to Mr Chhatwal, the international business would recover completely only by January 2021. If Indian Hotels get recovery, the recovery could be very strong especially on the domestic front. The international front will take a long time, but the Indian market is very much influenced by the domestic side of the business and that is the key at least in FY21E.
• According to him, it is too early to calculate the economic damage due to this crisis. The hospitality business slowed down 10 days prior to the imposition of the restrictions. Within a week or 10 days, the industry will have clear visibility about the damage.
• Mr Chhatwal says Indian Hotels would not reduce tariffs to attract customers to post the crisis ends. The reduction in prices or tariff is not a long term strategy but is a tactic to survive maybe for a few months. Ultimately if pricing is a strategy, then in Indian Hotel, it is the beginning of the end, according to him. So, at the moment their key priority will be the safety and security of their guests, and medical staff that is staying with them in different properties in Mumbai.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

• The closing price of The Indian Hotels Company Ltd was ₹ 75/- as of 8-April-2020. It traded at 26.8x/ 23.4x/ 16.7x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 2.8/ 3.2/ 4.2 for FY20E/ FY21E/ FY22E respectively.
• The consensus target price of ₹ 154/- implies a PE multiple of 34.2x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 13.