The Indian Hotels Company Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Lodging · NSE

₹772.10+₹30.65 (+4.13%)

DalalBaazaar Score

79 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

ATTRACTIVE

Risk

Low

Driven by a very high earnings multiple, which leaves little margin for disappointment.

In simple words: Strong business and financial position, with both sales and profits growing well. Valuation is currently the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 7:03 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of The Indian Hotels Company Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

The Indian Hotels Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, owns, operates, and manages hotels, palaces and resorts in India and internationally. It operates through two segments: Hotel Services and Air and Institutional Catering.

IndustryLodging

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees27,757

Annual revenue₹9,307 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹9,307 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹22 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹36 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 27,757 employees supports ₹33.5 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹33.5 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD., TITAN COMPANY LIMITED, TRENT LTD, AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Some evidence

ROCE of 17.4% is above what capital typically costs, which suggests some pricing power, though not yet the sustained, wide gap that marks a durable advantage.

Peer median ROE25.9%

What is the outlook?

24 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 102.1% and earnings to grow about 17.2% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+102.1%

Est. earnings growth+17.2%

Analysts24

What has been driving growth?

Growth has come mainly from selling more, rather than from keeping more of each sale. Over 3 years revenue moved +67% while net margin moved +25% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect+67%

Margin effect+25%

DalalBaazaar Score

79/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ P/E of 51.2x is demanding — it needs sustained high growth to justify
• P/E is close to its own historical median of 62.1x
✗ P/B of 8.42x is a steep premium to book

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

88/ 100

Excellent

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

50/ 100

Fair

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

51.2x

3Y Median

62.1x

40 monthly readings · mean 67.9x · range 42.6x–99.0x

Sector Median

69.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 17% below its 3y median of 62.1x. Cheaper than its own history, which is worth a reason too: the market may be pricing in something the backward-looking numbers do not show.

🟢Against its sector it trades 26% below the peer median of 69.2x.

vs. its own history

Fair

62.1x median over 40 months · -17%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

69.2x median of 4 peers · -26%

vs. generic bands

Expensive

Above 35x

EV/EBITDA

34.0x

PEG

1.85

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well6

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 33.4% to 36.0% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 27% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from 12.6% to 16.0%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 13.2% to 17.4%.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.19x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.
Consistently profitable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

No automated checks triggered

None of the automated financial checks below were triggered on the years of data available. That is not the same as a clean bill of health — see what could not be checked.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 33.4% to 36.0%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 26% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.
Self-funding with balance-sheet headroom
Positive free cash flow of ₹1,435 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.
Earnings have proved durable
Profitable in every one of the last 4 reported years. Consistency lowers the risk that any single bad year is structural rather than cyclical.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

No clear risk case emerges from the available numbers — which is not the same as there being none.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1Revenue growth stays above 14% a year✓ 18.6% CAGR
Latest reported year was 15.1%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 34%✓ 36.0%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹1,435 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.8x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 14%✓ 17.4%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

10 / 12 checks passed

✓ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✓ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✓ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✓ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✓ Revenue growing year-over-year
✓ Profit growing year-over-year
✗ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✗ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✓ Analyst consensus isn't majority-sell
✓ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

8 good · 1 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹1.12 L Cr

Large Cap

Large, widely-covered business — typically the steadiest of the bands

P/E (Trailing)

51.2x

Expensive

Expensive — verify against sector peers

P/B Ratio

8.42x

Rich

Steep premium to book — needs high, durable returns to justify

EPS (TTM)

₹15.07

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

16.0%

Strong

Strong capital efficiency

ROCE

17.4%

Strong

Earns comfortably above its likely cost of capital

Debt/Equity

0.19x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

15.1%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

20.7%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

0.42%

Modest

Small cash return — most of the return has to come from the price

Free Cash Flow

₹1,435 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

41.3x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

Operating Margin

24.4%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

20.9%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

2.49

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

-0.09

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

98%

Near high

Near its 52-week high

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

729.0 / 725.6

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

64.6

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹5,582 Cr	₹6,504 Cr	₹8,041 Cr	₹9,307 Cr	+18.6%
EBITDA	₹1,866 Cr	₹2,300 Cr	₹2,943 Cr	₹3,352 Cr	+21.6%
EBITDA Margin	33.4%	35.4%	36.6%	36.0%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	₹1,003 Cr	₹1,259 Cr	₹1,908 Cr	₹2,084 Cr	+27.6%
EPS	₹7.06	₹8.86	₹13.4	₹14.64	+27.5%
ROE	12.6%	13.3%	17.1%	16.0%	—
ROCE	13.2%	14.7%	17.7%	17.4%	—
Total Debt	₹3,139 Cr	₹2,736 Cr	₹3,084 Cr	₹2,837 Cr	-3.3%
Free Cash Flow	₹1,130 Cr	₹1,284 Cr	₹1,078 Cr	₹1,435 Cr	+8.3%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 18.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 21.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 33.4% to 36.0% over 3 years (+2.6 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has grown at 27.6% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EPS has grown at 27.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 ROE has risen from 12.6% to 16.0% over 3 years (+3.4 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 13.2% to 17.4% over 3 years (+4.2 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 3.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 8.3% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹20,297 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹5,358 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹406 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹2,471 Cr

Capex

-₹1,037 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

36.8%

Insider Holding

39.3%

Corporate Actions

Next Earnings

21 Oct 2026

Dividend Rate

₹3.25

Ex-Dividend Date

23 Jun 2026

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

25 Buy · 4 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹834.28

+8.1% vs CMP

Target Range

₹699 – ₹960

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.	25.2x	13.4%
TITAN COMPANY LIMITED	68.5x	36.7%
TRENT LTD	87.2x	25.9%
AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITED	69.9x	12.7%

Recent News

1 mixed5 general

Indian Hotels, Oriental Hotels rally up to 6%; what's driving hotel stocks?

Business Standard, 16 Oct

Top 3 stocks to buy tomorrow: Mphasis, HAL, Indian Hotel by market expert; check stop-loss, target price for Mon, 19 Oct

Livemint, 18 OctAnalyst view

🟡Mixed / dependsBroker commentary — an opinion about the price rather than new information about the business.

The Hotel Room Rate Metric Investors Miss: What the Average Room Rate Test Really Reveals

Kalkine India, 16 Oct

Five Stocks To Buy Today: Kotak Mahindra Bank, Indian Hotels, BSE, And More | October 16, 2026

NDTV Profit, 16 Oct

Indian Hotels pays ₹10 lakh penalty to BMC over missing NOC

scanx.trade, 16 Oct

ITC HOTELS LIMITED Share Price - Live NSE: ITCHOTELS Stock Price & Chart

Upstox, 16 Oct

Watch Items

Trading very close to its 52-week high — momentum-driven entries here carry more mean-reversion risk.
Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Growth · Profitability · Risk

WeakValuation

Points for each in the Score ↑

Good business at a fair price

A sound business at a reasonable valuation. Suitable for a long-term holding, with the valuation and the direction of margins worth watching rather than the business itself.

All 5 tripwires holding · see Key things to watch ↑