ITCHOTELS

** India's Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS, ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, ITC Hotels ITCT.NS, Mankind Pharma MNKI.NS, BSE BSEL.NS and others rise as FTSE's March semi-annual rebalancing comes into effect

** Index provider FTSE added BSEL, Kaynes Technology KAYN.NS, and others to FTSE All World Index; increased weights for ICBK, KTKM, ITCT, MNKI and others

** Rebalancing to lead to $1.4 billion net inflows into Indian stocks, say analysts; biggest beneficiary ICBK rises 1.6%

** Several global investors track index providers like FTSE for their portfolio allocations

** Central Depository Services CENA.NS, BSEL, KAYN, Apar Industries APAR.NS up between 3.2% and 3.6%, while KTKM and ITCT gain 2.3% and 4.9%, respectively

** Premier Energies PEME.NS and National Aluminium Co NALU.NS buck the trend, down 2.5% and 3%, respectively, despite FTSE inclusion

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M)

(([email protected];))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Ujjaini Dutta

BENGALURU, Feb 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Indian Hotels IHTL.NS, owner of the luxury Taj brand, is emerging as a flag bearer of the South Asian country's tourism boom. The $12 billion company on Monday unveiled a fifth hotel under development in Mumbai. Overall it plans to more than double its footprint of properties to over 700 by 2030, and at least 10% of the additions will be overseas. But as domestic room tariffs hit the roof, Indians are increasingly eyeing overseas destinations.

The company shows no sign of being affected by a domestic consumption slowdown that is rippling across the economy. Revenue hit 25.9 billion rupees ($296 million) in the three months to the end of December, up 29% year-on-year, and its EBITDA margin grew 80 basis points to over 39%. Over the past 12 months, the stock outperformed the rallying Nifty 50 .NSEI by 34 percentage points and Indian Hotels is valued at 63 times its earnings for financial year 2025, roughly double the multiple for Marriot International MAR.O and Hilton Hotel HLT.N.

Rich Indians are splurging on weddings and events, and people are hungry for experiences. Coldplay’s concert in Ahmedabad in January had an audience of 134,000, and room rates for one nearby Taj property leapt as high as 120,000 rupees, roughly $1,386, for a double-occupancy two-night stay. It's not a one-off: a shortage of hotels in prime locations is pushing up prices across the board even though foreigners are visiting India in fewer numbers than before the Covid pandemic.

Overseas destinations start to look relatively attractive to domestic travellers beyond a certain expense, says Amit Kumar at HDFC Securities. India may become the world’s fourth-largest market for outbound tourism after the United States, China and Germany, up from 10th, by 2035, says Capital Economics. Popular destinations for the South Asian country's travellers include the Maldives, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Thailand.

Concerns about the sustainability of room rates within India are growing, however. Karan Khanna, an analyst at Ambit Capital, warns of a potential faster-than-expected surge in domestic supply as rivals including ITC Hotels ITCT.NS announce significant expansion plans in smaller cities. To address those worries, Indian Hotels is talking up its capital-light investment strategy. For now, it is on the move with rich India.

Follow @ujjainidutta_

CONTEXT NEWS

Indian Hotels Company on January 17 reported revenue of 25.9 billion rupees ($296 million) in the three months to the end of December, up 29% from the same period last year. Net profit for the period also rose 29% to 5.8 billion rupees.

(Editing by Una Galani and Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on DUTTA/
[email protected]))

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Shares of ITC Hotels ITCT.NS fell 2.7% in debut trade on Wednesday, following its demerger from consumer goods firm ITC ITC.NS.

The stock slipped to 175 rupees on the National Stock Exchange, compared to a discovered price of 180 rupees determined during a pre-open trading session.

ITC ITC.NS had in July 2023 decided to spin off its hotel business into a separately listed firm to focus on its core cigarettes and food business.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)

(([email protected]; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))