Blaming the adverse publicity surrounding the recently-concluded CWG games, Tata Group's Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) on Wednesday said that it has clocked a net loss of Rs. 6.3-crore for the quarter ending September 30, as compared to Rs. 11.87-crore in the year-ago
period.
The company has criticised the adverse publicity surrounding the recently-concluded CWG games for the loss.
Q2 is typically considered as the weakest of all the four quarters for the hospitality sector in India, the company said.
"This quarter has registered rather subdued occupancies in some of the key markets where the sentiments were adversely impacted by the continued adverse publicity surrounding the recently-concluded CWG games," IHCL's Managing Director, Raymond Bickson, said in a press release.
"In effect, the anticipated improved business surrounding the CWG did not crystallise," he said.
However, the company has reported a 15 per cent increase in income from operations at Rs. 328.5-crore as compared to Rs. 285.92-crore in the year-ago period.
The company's insurance cover towards loss of profit for Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, was in place covering a period of 12 months which expired in November, 2009.
Thus, whilst for the six-months ended September 30, 2009 the company has accrued income towards the loss of profit claim for an amount of Rs. 43.79 crore, such a benefit was not available for the corresponding period of the current year, the release said.
In August 2010, the company formally launched its new brand of hotels styled as 'Vivanta by Taj' and rebranded 19 of its existing upper upscale hotels. The cost of the brand launch has been absorbed in the second quarter, the release said.