Byke Hospitality faces low occupancy pressure due to COVID-19
The Indian hospitality industry is undoubtedly one of the biggest casualties of the COVID-19 outbreak as the demand has declined to an all-time low. The lockdown had an adverse impact on the hospitality sector, where the occupancy levels and the average room rent (ARR) have taken a major hit.
The Byke Hospitality has also faced the brunt of the pandemic on its business operations. As it was not part of government denominated essential services, most of the hotels of the company were shut down entirely during the lockdown. Within the hotel's portfolio, three hotels had stay‐on guests, and two hotels had provided rooms for quarantine facility to the government authorities under Vande Bharat Mission.
With the lifting of the partial lockdown restrictions, the company has started re-opening a few hotels in the non-containment zones. It expects all the hotels to become operational in a phased manner after the lockdown is lifted and travelling is allowed without any restrictions.
The company's profitability and cash inflows as well as its outflows were impacted due to low occupancy. Also, the adverse effects will be reflected in its revenues in FY21, especially in H1FY21, due to lower occupancies and limited food and beverages (F&B) offtake led by reduced business and leisure travel.
The company has launched Kal ka Safar offer, in which customers can pre-book their stay at any of Byke Properties before March 31, 2021. Not only this, but the customers can also reschedule dates, 48 hours prior to check-in.
Byke Hospitality Ltd is one of India's fastest emerging Hospitality Group, having a presence in nine states and 16 cities with 21 hotels and a total of 1,255 rooms. Some of its locations include Matheran, Goa, Manali, Jaipur, Thane, Udaipur, Shimla, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kovalam, Junagadh, Ooty, Shirdi, and Bodh Gaya.
On Monday, the stock of Byke Hospitality opened at Rs 15.10. In the early morning session, it surged 5.3 per cent to Rs 15.80 from its previous close of Rs 15 on BSE.