The Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) has accelerated its expansion strategy by adding three new brands in FY26, taking its total major brand count to 14. The hospitality major also achieved a record 250 hotel signings during the year, pushing its portfolio to 630 hotels with a robust pipeline of 255 properties.
The company opened or onboarded 130 hotels through a combination of inorganic and sustained organic growth, strengthening its footprint across luxury, experiential leisure and mid-scale hospitality segments.
Sixteenth straight quarter of strong performance
IHCL reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of ₹600 crore for the March quarter of FY26. Revenue for the quarter stood at ₹2,845 crore, while EBITDA came in at ₹1,052 crore with an EBITDA margin of 37%. For the full fiscal year FY26, the company posted PAT of ₹2,084 crore on revenue of ₹9,971 crore. EBITDA stood at ₹3,477 crore, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 34.9%.
Diversification strategy pays off
IHCL Managing Director & CEO Puneet Chhatwal, said :“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%.”
Macro-headwinds fail to dent momentum
Chhatwal said Q4 FY26 marked the company’s sixteenth consecutive quarter of record performance, with consolidated revenue rising 14% year-on-year despite the impact of the West Asia conflict.
He noted that the company delivered double-digit revenue growth in FY26 amid macroeconomic challenges, supported by sustained demand across hospitality segments and growth in fee-based businesses.
Standalone business delivers margin expansion
IHCL Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer,Ankur Dalwani, said “For FY2026, IHCL Standalone reported a revenue of INR 5,640 crores, driven by RevPAR growth of 12% in Q4, clocking a strong EBITDA margin of 45.1%, an expansion of 120 basis points and a PAT of INR 2,012 crores.”
Broad-based growth across verticals
Dalwani said IHCL Consolidated recorded strong growth across businesses during FY26, driven by 9% RevPAR growth from same-store hotels, 16% growth in airline and institutional catering, 25% growth in new businesses and 22% growth in management fees.
The company’s diversified business mix and expanding management portfolio continued to strengthen profitability and operating leverage during the year.
₹1,000 crore invested in expansion and renovations
IHCL invested over ₹1,000 crore during FY26 across greenfield projects, hotel renovations and digital initiatives.
Key investments included Vivanta and Ginger projects at Ekta Nagar, a 100-key expansion at Taj Ganges in Varanasi and renovations of marquee assets including Taj Palace New Delhi, St. James Court London and The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Mumbai.
Acquisitions strengthen future pipeline
The year also saw the completion of majority stake acquisitions in ANK & Pride Hospitality, Atmantan and Brij Hospitality, which the company sees as key long-term revenue drivers.
IHCL maintained a healthy pre-tax ROCE of 17% despite the higher investments and capital expenditure during the fiscal. The company’s credit rating was also upgraded to AAA+ by ICRA.
TajSATS continues steady growth
IHCL’s Air & Institutional Catering business, TajSATS, reported revenue of ₹1,219 crore in FY26, registering 16% growth over the previous year.
The segment posted an EBITDA margin of 24.2%, supported by rising travel demand and institutional catering contracts.
New businesses emerge as growth engines
The company’s new businesses, comprising Ginger, Qmin, amã Stays & Trails and Tree of Life, delivered enterprise revenue of ₹1,099 crore, up 37% year-on-year. Consolidated revenue from these businesses stood at ₹753 crore, growing 25%.
Ginger crosses major milestone
Ginger recorded enterprise revenue of ₹814 crore with 21% growth and an EBITDAR margin of 43%. Ginger Mumbai Airport crossed the ₹100 crore revenue milestone during FY26 while delivering a strong EBITDAR margin of 56%.
Qmin and leisure brands scale up
Qmin expanded to over 100 outlets across formats during the fiscal year. Meanwhile, amã Stays & Trails expanded to a portfolio of 370 bungalows with 186 in the pipeline, while Tree of Life reached 34 resorts with an additional 11 resorts under development