Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Limited

Consumer Cyclical — Lodging · NSE

₹607.00+₹10.50 (+1.76%)

DalalBaazaar Score

68 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

Low

Driven by small-cap size, which brings sharper price swings.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, with both sales and profits growing well. Nothing on this snapshot stands out as an immediate concern — the usual checks on business quality and management still apply.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 6:09 pm

Mixed / neutral. No major red flags jump out, but nothing here screams "obviously cheap" either. This is a name that needs a peer comparison and a view on near-term earnings triggers before sizing a position.

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

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

What does this company do?

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Limited operates in the hospitality industry in India. The company owns, operates, and manages hotels and resorts under The Leela brand name. It also offers gift cards.

IndustryLodging

SectorConsumer Cyclical

Employees2,764

Annual revenue₹1,527 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹1,527 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹26 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹53 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 2,764 employees supports ₹55.3 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

EBITDA margin53.3%

Net margin26.4%

Revenue / employee₹55.3 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.

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD.P/E 25.2x · ROE 13.4%

TITAN COMPANY LIMITEDP/E 68.5x · ROE 36.7%

TRENT LTDP/E 87.2x · ROE 25.9%

AVENUE SUPERMARTS LIMITEDP/E 69.9x · ROE 12.7%

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 8.3% are at or below what the capital likely costs. That is the financial pattern of a business competing largely on price, where advantage has to come from execution rather than position.

ROCE8.3%

ROE7.2%

Peer median ROE25.9%

What is the outlook?

14 analysts covering the stock expect revenue to grow about 17.4% and earnings to grow about 22.4% in the year to 2028. These are estimates by people who follow the company, not a forecast for the wider industry.

Est. revenue growth+17.4%

Est. earnings growth+22.4%

Analysts14

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +78% while net margin moved -468% 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+78%

Margin effect-468%

DalalBaazaar Score

68/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Small Cap: thinner liquidity and sharper drawdowns are normal
✗ Profits have swung sharply from year to year — earnings are hard to forecast

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

74/ 100

Good

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

Valuation

63/ 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

32.6x

1.3Y Median

288.7x

16 monthly readings · mean 238.3x · range 46.0x–345.4x

Sector Median

69.2x

median of 4 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 89% below its 1.3y median of 288.7x. 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 53% below the peer median of 69.2x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

288.7x median over 16 months · -89%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

69.2x median of 4 peers · -53%

vs. generic bands

Fair

15x–35x

P/E (Trailing)

32.6x

P/B

3.09x

EV/EBITDA

27.0x

PEG

1.60

Dividend Yield

None

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 50.6% to 53.3% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 53% over 3 years.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from 5.3% to 8.3%.
Valuation below its historical average
At 32.6x the stock trades 89% below its own median of 288.7x.
Very low debt
Debt/Equity of 0.28x leaves the balance sheet with plenty of headroom.

🔴 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 50.6% to 53.3%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 53% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 89% below its own median multiple. If the business performs as it has and simply re-rates back to normal, that gap is return on its own.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 53% 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 ₹261 Cr alongside low debt means growth, buybacks or dividends need no outside money — and a downturn can be absorbed rather than refinanced.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.
Size brings its own risk
Small Cap businesses are thinly traded, so exits are harder in a falling market and single events move the price more than they would for a larger company.

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

1Revenue growth stays above 16% a year✓ 21.1% CAGR
Latest reported year was 32.6%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
2EBITDA margin holds above 51%✓ 53.3%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
3Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✗ 2.2x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
4Interest cover stays above 3x✓ 3.4x
How much operating profit can fall before interest stops being comfortably covered.
5Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹261 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.

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

5 good · 5 neutral · 1 weak

Market Cap

₹20,271 Cr

Small Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

32.6x

Fair

Fairly valued against the generic band

P/B Ratio

3.09x

Fair

Moderate premium to the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹18.61

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

7.2%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

8.3%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

0.28x

Low

Conservative leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

32.6%

Healthy

Healthy top-line growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

20.4%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

None

No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated

Free Cash Flow

₹127 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

CMP

₹607

P/E (Forward)

31.7x

Improving

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

ROA

5.0%

Average

Average asset productivity

Operating Margin

37.4%

Good

Healthy core-business profitability

Net Margin

27.1%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.12

Adequate

Adequate, but no real cushion

52W Range Position

84%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

570.0 / 550.3

Bullish alignment (short > long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

72.0

Overbought zone

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹860 Cr	₹1,171 Cr	₹1,301 Cr	₹1,527 Cr	+21.1%
EBITDA	₹435 Cr	₹605 Cr	₹696 Cr	₹814 Cr	+23.2%
EBITDA Margin	50.6%	51.7%	53.5%	53.3%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹62 Cr	-₹2 Cr	₹48 Cr	₹403 Cr	—
EPS	₹-1.85	₹-0.06	₹1.43	₹12.4	—
ROE	—	—	1.3%	6.3%	—
ROCE	5.3%	29.0%	7.2%	8.3%	—
Total Debt	₹3,883 Cr	₹4,453 Cr	₹4,142 Cr	₹1,811 Cr	-22.5%
Free Cash Flow	₹232 Cr	₹418 Cr	₹345 Cr	₹261 Cr	+3.9%

🟢 Revenue has grown at 21.1% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 23.2% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 50.6% to 53.3% over 3 years (+2.7 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹62 Cr to ₹403 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-1.85 to ₹12.4.

🟢 ROE has risen from 1.3% to 6.3% over 3 years (+5.0 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from 5.3% to 8.3% over 3 years (+2.9 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 22.5% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 3.9% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹8,924 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹2,471 Cr

Total Debt

₹1,811 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹100 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹777 Cr

Capex

-₹516 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

12.6%

Insider Holding

75.9%

Analyst Consensus

Recommendations

18 Buy · 0 Hold · 0 Sell

Target Price (Mean)

₹701.67

+15.6% vs CMP

Target Range

₹610 – ₹753

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

3 mixed3 general

LEELA PALACES HOTEL LTD Share Price - Live NSE: THELEELA Stock Price & Chart

Upstox, 16 Oct

Leela Palaces Hotels rallies 10%, hits new high on healthy Q2 results

Business Standard, 15 OctResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Buzzing Stocks: Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts rises 5% after brokerages keep ‘Buy’; IDBI Bank...

Moneycontrol.com, 15 Oct

Results: Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Limited Beat Earnings Expectations And Analysts Now Have New Forecasts

Simply Wall Street, 17 OctAnalyst view

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

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts among 4 stocks hitting 52-week highs; rally up to 32% in a month

The Economic Times, 15 Oct

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts uploads audio of Q2FY27 earnings call

scanx.trade, 14 OctResults

🟡Mixed / dependsA results event. The figures on this page update once the new statements reach the data feed, which usually lags the announcement.

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.
RSI is in overbought territory — momentum entries here carry more short-term pullback risk.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

🟢Business QualityStrong13/20

🟢Financial HealthStrong15.4/20

🟢GrowthStrong18.4/20

🟡ProfitabilityModerate8.9/15

🟡ValuationFair9.5/15

🔴RiskHigh3.2/10

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.

This thesis breaks if

✓Revenue growth stays above 16% a year21.1% CAGR
✓EBITDA margin holds above 51%53.3%
✗Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x2.2x
✓Interest cover stays above 3x3.4x
✓Free cash flow remains positive₹261 Cr