Indian Hotels is gearing up for a sustainable turnaround, said Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and CEO of the company, adding that he was clear and precise about his vision for growth model and value for shareholders.

After taking over, Puneet rounded up the top 20-25 people in the company and together chartered a vision 'aspiration 2022'. The vision was to take EBITDA margin to 25% and touch 200 hotels by 2022.

The key themes to drive this vision were- restructure, reengineer and reimagine. Puneet believes it is now evident that the results have started reflecting.

When Puneet Chatwal took over as managing director and CEO of Indian Hotels, he also took over a debt of almost Rs 3600 crore and several legacy issues that were straining the balance sheet. Seven months later, Indian Hotels ended financial year 2018 on a stellar note, beating even the highest expectations by analysts.

According to Puneet, if the market situation remains stable, there is a lot more growth potential ahead.

From restructuring assets to exiting loss making assets to acquisitions, Puneet has a long term plan ready and is not looking at short term returns.

However, he refused to comment on the contentious issue of Taj Mansigh and maintained that Taj Mansigh was an iconic brand and Indian hotels wanted to retain it in its portfolio.

First Published:May 30, 2018 11:53 AM IST