Indian Hotels Company versus Leela Palaces Hotels: Here is how top hotel operators performed in Q4

The country's two prominent hotel chain operators Indian Hotels Company, the operator of Taj Group of hotels and Leela Palaces Hotels and Resorts reported their March quarter earnings over the last two weeks. Both the companies recorded a jump in profit, top line growth and stable operating profit.

Indian Hotels on Monday said that it earned a consolidated net profit of ₹600 crore in January-March quarter, marking an increase of 15% from ₹522 crore in the year-ago period. Its revenue from operations advanced 14% to ₹2,765 crore compared with ₹2,425 crore in the corresponding period last year. Meanwhile, Leela Palaces Hotels last month said that it its consolidated revenue in March quarter advanced 14% to ₹484 crore from ₹425 crore in the year-ago period.

Net profit jumped 46% to ₹172 crore as against ₹117 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Taj Group of hotels contributed 69% towards the total revenue, 10% revenue came from Vivanta, 12% from TajSATS and 8% from new business.

The company reported stable operational performance as its Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) also known as operating profit jumped 13% to ₹972 crore but its EBITDA margin contracted by 20 basis points to 35.15% from 35.35%.

The company in a press release said that its new businesses comprising of Ginger, Qmin, amã Stays & Trails and Tree of Life reported an enterprise revenue of ₹1,099 crore, a growth of 37% and consolidated revenue of ₹753 crore, a growth of 25%.

Its air and institutional catering business segment (TajSATS) clocked a revenue of ₹1,219 crore, 16% growth over the previous year and EBITDA margin at 24.2%.

“IHCL, led by its multi-brand presence across segments coupled with a balanced growth strategy focused on capital light with select investments has delivered consistent performance over sixteen quarters. This diversification strategy by brand, by nature of contract and by geography has driven operating leverage, grown high margin fee-based businesses and built resilience, delivering a double digit CAGR (FY23 – FY26) across all metrics of IHCL consolidated - revenue 19%, EBITDA 21% and PAT 28%,” said Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director & CEO, IHCL.

At the end of financial year 2025-26 Indian Hotels had 630 hotels and 375 amã villas taking the total units to 1,000 plus properties.

The company added that it plans to open 100 plus hotels in the next 24 months taking the total keys to more than 31,000.

Leela Palaces Hotels reported a decline in operational performance as its EBITDA fell 6% to ₹335 crore.

FY26 marked a defining year of record performance for Leela Hotels, with the company delivering its highest ever revenue, profitability, and margins; significantly outpacing industry growth, the company said in a press release.

The Leela outperformed the India luxury segment, delivering 2.3 times revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth, with the RevPAR index strengthening to 150 in FY26 from 139 in FY25, reflecting continued market share gains, the company added.

Food and beverage (F&B) revenue grew 15% annually to ₹550 crore, driven by 7 curated F&B launches and upgrades across key properties, with higher non-resident contribution in city hotels.

Leela Hotels said that it sees pipeline of 1,000+ keys by FY30 across owned developments and capital-light management contracts, widening the brand footprint into multiple geographies and segments.

During FY26 The Leela Hotels added four properties in Mumbai BKC, Palm Jumeirah (Dubai), Jaisalmer, and Coorg, driving 23% growth in keys.

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