IHCL MD and CEO Puneet Chhatwal said quarter two of this fiscal year marks IHCL’s fourteenth consecutive quarter of ‘record’ financial performance with a revenue of Rs 2,124 crores, a 12% growth over the previous year and a strong EBITDA margin of 30.8%, an expansion of 90 basis points. “The hospitality sector absorbed multiple setbacks and shocks like the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor, a major airline crash, besides other geopolitical conflicts,” he said.
“The revenue performance in the first half of the year was enabled by a 9% revenue per available room growth, 22% growth in new businesses and 21% growth in management fee income,” he added.
Chhatwal said IHCL continued its ‘accelerated’ growth momentum in the first half of fiscal year 2026 with 46 signings to reach a portfolio of 570 hotels and opened 26 hotels, crossing a milestone of over 250 operating hotels in India with over 25,000 rooms.
“Under our strategic partnership with Clarks group, 14 hotels have been successfully onboarded on our sales and distribution network, and the remaining portfolio is set to migrate to IHCL’s brandscape in the coming months,” he said. He said during the quarter under review, the overseas portfolio saw a growth of almost 14% in revenues. “San Francisco is coming back as a market and the last three months have been encouraging,” he added.
The chain has commenced construction for Taj Bandstand after securing necessary approvals and the property is likely to be completed in four years, Chhatwal said.“On the back of strong industry fundamentals, the outlook for the second half of the fiscal year remains strong with a rebound in corporate travel, seasonal surge in social events and global conventions and trade fairs,” he added.Ankur Dalwani, executive vice president and chief financial officer at IHCL said the chain continues to maintain a healthy balance sheet with a gross cash balance of Rs 2,847 crore as on September 30 2025. He said planned renovations have been completed in the first seven months of this fiscal across key assets like Taj Fort Aguada Resort & Spa, Goa, Taj Palace, New Delhi and The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai.
During the first six months of this fiscal, IHCL signed new hotels in locations such as Darjeeling, ECR Chennai, Pondicherry, Mohali and in Kruger National Park, South Africa. IHCL opened 26 hotels across locations such as Alibaug, Raichak, Udaipur, Coorg, Lakshadweep, Ahmedabad and Dehradun.