Increased depreciation charges, CSR hit profitability of Oberoi Hotels

The Oberoi Group or East India Hotels (EIH) said its profitability for the fiscal 2014/15 was hit by Rs 33.28 crore because of "increased depreciation charges caused by the change in method of calculating depreciation in accordance with the new Companies Act 2013". Besides, an additional expense for CSR worth Rs 2.38 crore also brought down profits.

In a press release announcing its results, EIH said its total revenue (including other income) for 2014/15 was Rs 1,366.30 crore, a growth of 4.5 per cent over the Rs 1,278.94 crore in the previous fiscal. Profit before tax was Rs 151.25 crore and Profit after tax was Rs 96.63 crore.

The company says that without the depreciation and CSR charges, EIH's profit before tax would have been higher than last year by Rs 35.63 crore and profit after tax, higher by Rs 24.92 crore.

Vikram Oberoi, Managing Director and CEO of EIH, said that the hotel industry faced weak demand and increased supply of rooms last year, resulting in subdued performance by the industry overall. He goes on to claim the despite the tough conditions, EIH increased its market share. At the same time, he is hopeful that initiatives taken by the new government will stimulate demand going ahead.

Meanwhile, the Oberoi Group continues to expand its hotel offerings with several properties in various stages of construction. These are the Oberoi Al Zorah in the United Arab Emirates, the Oberoi Marrakech, the Oberoi Sukhvilas on the outskirts of Chandigarh, and The Oberoi, Casablanca.