Stringent cost control remains key for survival With re-opening of state borders, the company saw a recovery in demand. Operating inventory also increased from 71.5% in Q1 to 86.8% in Q2. This led to 17.1% QoQ growth in revenues for the quarter. Although some improvement would be visible, going forward, with gradual unlocking of economy meaningful recoveries will take at least 12-15 months. We model occupancy of 43%, 60% and ARR of | 3580, | 4210 in FY21E, FY22E, respectively. LTH has taken measures to curtail costs, by taking salary cuts,...

EBITDA for 2QFY21 stood at Rs83mn, down 83% YoY and EBITDA margin stood at 17.5%, down 1,425bps YoY. Because of conscious cost control measures implemented by the company, it was able to remain EBITDA positive in 2QFY21. We however remain concerned about the rising debt level. In 2QFY21, the gross debt increased by 24% YoY to Rs16,617mn. Net debt stood at Rs14,500mn in 2QFY21. But, the net debt to equity ratio improved to 0.90x in 2QFY21 compared to 1.03x in 2QFY20 and 0.99x in 4QFY20. Occupancy for 2QFY21 stood at 32.4% and RevPar declined by 72% YoY to Rs859. Cash profit for 2QFY21 stood at Rs46mn. As the lockdown eased in different states and the economy opened up, LTHL...

Revenue stood at INR476m (v/s est. INR452m) in 2QFY21, down 69% YoY. ARR declined 36% YoY to INR2,654, and occupancy declined by 42.4pp (to 32.4%). Thus, RevPAR plunged 72% YoY to INR859. EBITDA plummeted 83% YoY to INR83m (v/s est. INR90m and INR44m in 1QFY21). Adj. loss stood at INR371m (v/s loss of INR22m last year). On QoQ basis, RevPAR grew 13%, led by 350bp improvement in occupancy and 1% increase in ARR. Revenue/EBITDA grew 17%/91% QoQ. On same hotel basis (excluding hotels, which were commissioned over the...

Revenue at Rs407mn declined by 71% YoY. This was primarily due to: (1) Lower operational inventory (2) Decline in RevPar by 76% YoY. The RevPar for Lemon Tree (excluding the RevPar of Keys Hotels) declined by 73% YoY. EBITDA for 1QFY21 stood at Rs44mn, down 90% YoY and EBITDA margin stood at 10.7%, down 2,104bps YoY. Because of conscious cost control measures implemented by the company, it was able to remain EBITDA positive in 1QFY21. We however remain concerned about the rising debt level. In 4QFY20, the net debt to equity stood at 1.79x compared to 1.33x in 4QFY19....

Lemon Tree's (LTH) business was severely affected by lockdown in Q1FY21. Revenues fell 71.1% YoY to | 40.7 crore (vs. I-direct estimate: | 43.7 crore) as only 71% of its inventory was operational. Occupancy in operational hotels was at 40.4%, leading to average occupancy of 28.9% for the quarter. Average room rates were also down 34.4% YoY to | 2626/room. Key demand segments for business were Indians returning from abroad, global IT majors for their business continuity and on duty doctors & paramedical staffs. Total expenses were at | 36.3 crore in Q1FY21, down 62.2% YoY vs....

10 August 2020 Lemon Tree Hotels (LEMONTRE) cost saving initiatives have aided in achieving positive EBITDA (higher than est.). This is commendable in our view, especially at a time when hotel players have either reported or are likely to post EBITDA loss (for players yet to announce results). Although EBITDA was above our estimates, we have maintained our FY21/22E estimates as 1QFY21 is not expected to contribute materially to FY21 EBITDA. We have a rating on the stock with TP of INR33. 1QFY21 revenue was down 71% YoY to INR407m (v/s est. ARR declined 34% YoY to INR2,626, while occupancy decreased 48.7pp to 28.9%, leading to RevPAR drop of 76% YoY to INR759. EBITDA plunged 90% YoY to INR44m (v/s est. INR3m) while Adj. loss stood at INR419m (v/s loss of INR17m last year). On same hotel basis (excluding hotels, which were commissioned over the past 12 months i.e.

Tourism was the first sector that took a hit due to outbreak of the pandemic and is expect to be among the last to recover. Business in April was down 76% YoY and 70% YoY in May. Business and Leisure travel are not expected to normalize for few quarters. Occupancies in the lockdown came from rooms occupied by quarantine or corporate guests, doctors and healthcare workers. We model occupancy of 52%/63% and ARR of |4080/|4410 in FY21E/FY22E. LTH has taken measures to curtail costs, by taking salary cuts, re-negotiating contracts, reducing repairs costs, reduction in power costs,...

Revenue growth of 17% YoY in 4QFY20 was primarily driven by 48% YoY increase in number of rooms to 8,006 rooms. RevPar at Rs2,764 declined by 19% YoY. However, the RevPar for Lemon Tree (excluding the RevPar of Keys Hotels) declined by 11% YoY. While reported EBITDA and EBITDA margin rose by 31% and 381bps, respectively YoY, the comparable EBITDA (adjusted for changes due to Ind As 116) rose by 12% YoY and the comparable EBITDA margin declined by 127bps YoY to 31.2%. We however remain concerned about the rising debt level. In 4QFY20, the net debt to equity stood at 1.79x as compared to 1.33x in 4QFY19....

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has had a severe impact on the hotel bookings in India from Feb-20 onwards with massive forward booking cancellations across cities. This in turn has eroded the ability of hotels across India with heavy loss of business during this peak season time. The extent of this lost business has primarily been seen across all major tourist and business destinations and we expect the situations to remain severely weak with individuals cancelling or deferring their travel plans and thousands of companies adopting the work from home' and no travel' policies. This...

Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd.'s (LTH) Q3FY20 result was a mixed bag as net sales was muted owing to weak performance of new hotels, while cost saving aided healthy margins improvement. Net sales increased by 39.2% YoY to Rs 1,996 mn mainly driven by 4% increase in ADR. EBITDA came in at Rs 812 mn, up by 65.7% YoY and EBITDA margin stood at 40.7%, improved by 649 bps YoY. The company reported net profit of Rs 122 mn down by 2.2% YoY. The company's new acquired venture Keys Hotels performance...

Lemon Tree Hotels reported a strong set of Q3FY20 numbers. Revenues for the quarter increased 39.2% YoY to | 199.6 crore (I-direct estimate: | 189.6 crore). The strong topline growth was driven by ~45% increase in the number of owned/leased rooms and 58% rise in managed room portfolio. While RevPAR growth, on an overall basis, was at 1.9% for the quarter, RevPAR growth for the Lemon Tree portfolio (ex-keys) was at a healthy 7.5% YoY. Reported EBITDA for the quarter was at | 81.2 crore (I-direct estimate: | 64.1 crore) with EBITDA margins of 40.7% (I-direct estimate: 33.8%). On a...

RevPar growth of 2% YoY post Keys acquisition and 8% YoY pre Keys acquisition Revenue growth of 39% YoY in 3QFY20 was primarily driven by 49% YoY increase in number of rooms to 7,979 rooms. Inorganic increase in the number of rooms because of the acquisition of Keys Hotels stood at 1,591 rooms and the organic growth in number of rooms of Lemon Tree stood at 1,046 rooms (20% YoY). RevPar at Rs3,311 grew 2% YoY. However, the RevPar for Lemon Tree (excluding the RevPar of Keys Hotels) grew 8% YoY. However, the 3QFY20 results show 2% YoY decline in adjusted net profit at Rs122mn. The reason for decline in earnings is attributable to the increase in depreciation and interest costs because of:...

17 February 2020 LEMONTRE reported a strong performance at its existing hotels, where RevPAR growth of 7.5% YoY led to a 19% YoY increase in EBITDA. EBITDA performance was mainly driven by new hotels (absent in the base quarter) as they formed 46% of incremental EBITDA. For FY20, we cut our revenue estimate by 6% (to factor in the 16% miss to our estimate in 3QFY20) but maintain our EBITDA estimate. For FY21/22, our estimates remain unchanged. inventory addition (absent in base quarter), contribution from Keys Hotels acquisition, and ARR growth. Reported EBITDA grew 66% YoY to INR812m 48% YoY to INR725m. Adj. PAT declined 2% YoY to INR122m. For 9MFY20, revenue/like-to-like EBITDA/PAT growth stood at 24%/25%/(59%). ARR was up 4% YoY at INR4,644 in 3QFY20; occupancy declined by ~150bp YoY to 71.3%. However, on a same-hotel basis, ARR grew 5.4% YoY with occupancy up ~150bp YoY at 76.

We initiate coverage on Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd (LTH) with a BUY rating and TP of Rs85 based on 26x EV/EBITDA on FY22E. We believe LTH's 1) Leadership in mid-market hotel segment in the domestic market, 2) Robust pipe line of inventory addition, 3) Focus on asset light business model, 4) Inorganic expansion through acquisition of Keys Hotels and 5) Foray into upscale segment through Aurika brand would be key catalysts for earnings growth. We expect the company to clock net sales/EBITDA/PAT CAGR of 19.4%/22.6%/36.8% over FY19-22E. Our earlier thesis of domestic hotel industry to benefit from increasing occupancy owing to demand-supply mismatch, which will lead...

Change in our financial statements post application of Ind AS 116 ACCUMULATE Ind AS 116 replaces existing standard on leases i.e. Ind AS 17, Leases with effect from accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2019. Ind AS 116 will affect primarily the accounting by lessees and will result in the recognition of almost all leases on balance sheet. The standard removes the current distinction between operating and finance leases and requires recognition of an asset (the right-of-use the leased item) and a financial liability to pay rentals for virtually all lease contracts. An optional exemption exists for short-term and low-value leases. The statement of profit and loss will also be affected because the total expense...

Flat RevPar, weakening cash flows and rising debt raise concerns The 2QFY20 results show adjusted net loss of Rs22mn as against a net profit of Rs57mn in 2QFY19 despite revenue growth of 19% YoY. Revenue growth was primarily driven by increase in number of rooms by 17% YoY to 5,828 rooms. RevPar at Rs3,091 remained flat YoY. While reported EBITDA and EBITDA margin rose 35% and 372bps, respectively YoY, the comparable EBITDA adjusted for changes due to Ind As 116 rose 12% YoY and the comparable EBITDA margin declined 153bps YoY to 26.5%. This was mainly because of increase in employee expenses by 24% YoY on account of minimum wage revisions and increase in other expenses by 23% YoY. (Refer Quarterly...

Flat RevPar, weakening cash flows and rising debt raise concerns The 2QFY20 results show adjusted net loss of Rs22mn as against a net profit of Rs57mn in 2QFY19 despite revenue growth of 19% YoY. Revenue growth was primarily driven by increase in number of rooms by 17% YoY to 5,828 rooms. RevPar at Rs3,091 remained flat YoY. While reported EBITDA and EBITDA margin rose 35% and 372bps, respectively YoY, the comparable EBITDA adjusted for changes due to Ind As 116 rose 12% YoY and the comparable EBITDA margin declined 153bps YoY to 26.5%. This was mainly because of increase in employee expenses by 24% YoY on account of minimum wage revisions and increase in other expenses by 23% YoY. (Refer Quarterly...

However, like-to-like EBITDA (adjusted for Ind-AS 116) was up only 12% YoY at INR404m, with the margin down 150bp YoY to 26.5%. The 13 November 2019 company reported a loss of INR22m in 2QFY20, as against a profit of INR57m in 2QFY19 due to lower other income and higher depreciation/interest. ARR increased 4.9% YoY to INR4,133 in 2QFY20; occupancy declined 350bp YoY to 74.8%. However, on a same-hotel basis, ARR was up 2.9% YoY, while occupancy was constant at 78.2%. Despite 19% revenue growth, like-to-like EBITDA (adjusted for Ind-AS) was up only 12% YoY as the recently commenced hotels are yet to stabilize and incurred additional cost amounting to INR22m (of which INR8m is non- recurring expense relating to training of employees, while the balance is attributed to wage increase and provident fund). During the quarter, although ARR of new hotels was higher (by 15%) than the old hotels, occupancy at the former was relatively low at 58.8%, restricting overall EBITDA growth.

We met the management of Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd (Lemon Tree) recently where the management highlighted aggressive expansion strategy of owning 40% of the rooms in the mid market segment to gain pricing power. It was mentioned that even in case of economic downturn, after owning 40% of the hotels, the pricing power would limit the downside to revenue growth. Further, on the Keys acquisition, the management was confident that after the acquisition is complete, the ARR of Keys could be increased on par with Lemon Tree. Therefore, the EBITDA...