EIH Ltd

EIH Ltd, the flagship company of Oberoi Group is one of the largest chains of hotels in India. The Oberoi Group is the owner and operator of 19 outstanding hotels, resorts and a luxury River Nile cruiser in Egypt under the Oberoi Hotels & Resorts brand and 10 five-star properties under the Trident Hotels label. In addition, the Group proudly own and manage the prestigious Maidens Hotel in New Delhi. Its comprehensive range of services include flight catering, airport lounges, travel and excursions, vehicle rentals, project management services and corporate air charters. The Company is in the business of luxury hotels, restaurant, management contracts and travel and tours. They operate hotels under the brand name 'Oberoi' and 'Trident'. The luxury hotels are operated under the Oberoi brand and five-star hotels are operated under the Trident brand. The hotels owned and managed by the Company are The Oberoi, Mumbai; The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur; The Oberoi, New Delhi; The Oberoi, Bangalore; The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata; The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambhore; Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai, and Trident, Bandra Kurla, Mumbai. Other business units owned and managed by the Company include Motor Vessel Vrinda, Cochin (a luxury cruiser); Oberoi Airport Services, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Cochin, Bangalore; Business Aircraft Charters and luxury car hire. EIH Ltd was incorporated on May 26, 1949 as a Public Limited Company with the name East India Hotels Ltd. Initially, the Company was in the business of lessee and operator of The Oberoi Palace Hotel in Srinagar, Kashmir. In the year 1956, the Equity Shares of the Company were fist listed on BSE. In the year 1965, they built their first hotel, The Oberoi Intercontinental, now known as The Oberoi, New Delhi. In September 9, 1968, The Associated Hotels of India Ltd and Hotels (1938) Pvt Ltd were amalgamated with the company pursuant to which the company acquired five hotels including, The Oberoi Grand in Kolkata, The Maidens Hotel in Delhi and The Oberoi Cecil, Shimla. In 1973, the company commenced operations at the Oberoi Towers in Mumbai and subsequently expanded their operations from the five star deluxe segment to 'Trident' branded hotels which were targeted at business and leisure customers seeking high-quality service at more affordable prices. In the year 1986, the company forayed into the airport services business by entering into a ten year contract with the International Airport's Authority to operate all the snack bars and restaurants at the domestic and international terminals in Mumbai. In November 1996, the company changed their name from East India Hotels Ltd to EIH Ltd. In January 1997, the company opened an international luxury resort namely, The Oberoi Lombok in Indonesia. In April 1997, they opened the luxury resort hotel in the Himalayas. During the year 2001-02, Mumtaz Hotel Ltd became the subsidiary company, which owns the 5-Star luxury hotel 'Amarvilas', an Oberoi Resort at Agra. Also, the company opened Vanyavilas, an Oberoi Resort at Ranthambhore during the year. During the year 2002-03, the company commenced their flight catering operations in Chennai after acquiring the business from EIH Associated Hotels Ltd. The hotel 'Udaivilas' in Udaipur was opened on August 15, 2002. The company renamed 'Vilas' hotels as The Oberoi Rajvilas, The Oberoi Amarvilas and The Oberoi Udaivilas with effect from October 1, 2003. Re-naming was done in order to remove the misconception from mind of customers that the Vilas hotels were separate from the Oberoi brand. In November 2003, the company launched Motor Vessel Vrinda, a luxury Crusier in the backwaters of Kerala. In March 2004, the company signed an agreement with Hilton International to co brand their Trident hotels in India. The Oberoi Towers, Mumbai was re-branded Hilton Towers and the Trident in Jaipur, Udaipur, Agra, Chennai, Cochin, Bhubaneshwar and Gurgaon were re-branded as Trident Hilton with effect from April 1, 2004. During the year 2004-05, the company opened two new restaurants namely, 'threesixty degree' and 'Travertino' at The Oberoi, New Delhi. They also opened a new restaurant namely, 'Tiffin' at The Oberoi, Mumbai. During the year 2005-06, they commenced their Flight Service Operations at Bangalore to cater to increased flights to that city. The company transferred Oberoi Cecil in Shimla and Trident Hilton in Bhubaneshwar to EIH Associated Hotels Ltd with effect from April 1, 2006. During the year 2007-08, the company completed the process of amalgamation of the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Rajgarh Palace Hotel and Resorts Ltd. Oberoi Hotels & Resorts was rated the leading luxury hotel brand in Asia in a Travel agents' poll at the World Travel Awards, 2007. Trident Hotels was rated the best first class hotel brand in India at the Galileo-Express Travel World Awards, 2007. The company terminated the strategic marketing and co-branding alliance with leading global hotel chain Hilton International Co with effect from April 1, 2008. The company signed Management Contracts through their foreign subsidiary for two The Oberoi Luxury Hotels in Abu Dhabi and one in Oman. During the year 2008-09, the company signed the Management Contracts for setting up and operating Flight Kitchens at Cochin and Calicut Airports. Balamurie Island Resort Pvt Ltd has ceased to be a joint venture company. In December 21, 2008, The Trident, Nariman Point was restored and reopened for business. In December 1, 2009, the company opened the 440 key Trident at Bandra Kurla, Mumbai, which has three speciality restaurants, each with their own distinctive cuisine and ambience. The Oberoi, Mumbai which was closed after substantial damage following the terror attacks on November 26, 2008 reopened on April 24, 2010. In June 30, 2010, EIH International Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, completed the acquisition of the 45.85% equity interest of Amex Investment Ltd, in their international hotels Joint Venture Company EIH Holdings Ltd, for USD 45 million. With this acquisition EIH Holdings Ltd, became wholly owned subsidiary of EIH International Ltd. Also, EIH Holdings Ltd signed a Management Contract for a hotel at Scorpio Bay, Greece and a second Oberoi hotel in Mauritius. In August 30, 2010, some shareholders of the company, namely Oberoi Hotels Pvt Ltd, Aravali Polymers LLP and Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi sold 5,54,70,303 shares, representing approximately 14.12% of the share capital of the company to Reliance Industries Investment and Holding Pvt Ltd at a cost of Rs 1021 crore. In 2010, EIH's luxury hotel at Nariman Point in Mumbai the Oberoi, Mumbai reopened after full renovation subsequent to the terrorist attacks in 2008. On 24 February 2011, EIH informed the stock exchanges that it recognised Rs 96.76 crore and Rs 52.67 crore as income on account of insurance claim against losses due to business interruption during the Financial Years 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively. Against the said claim, the insurance company has settled an amount of Rs 112.45 crore on 22 February 2011, resulting in a shortfall of Rs 36.98 crore which will be accounted for as loss during the quarter and financial year ending 31 March 2011. Further, against losses on account of damage to the company's properties as per books of account amounting to Rs 10.71 crore, the insurance company has settled the claim at Rs 17.42 crore on replacement value basis on 22 February 2011 resulting in a surplus of Rs 6.70 crore which will be accounted for as income during the quarter and financial year ending 31 March 2011. On 28 March 2011, EIH announced that the company has successfully completed its Rights Issue of 17.86 crore equity shares with a face value of Rs 2 each at a premium of Rs 64 per Equity Share (Issue Price Rs 66 per Equity Share) amounting to Rs 1178.86 crore to the existing shareholders. The Rights were given to those shareholders whose name appeared in the books of the company as on 22 February 2011, the record date fixed for the purpose, in the ratio of 5 Equity Shares for every 11 Equity Shares held. Giving an update on the company's ongoing projects, EIH said at the time of announcement of Q1 June 2011 results on 9 Aug 2011 that MOUs have been signed in respect of hotel projects at Pune and Casablanca, Morocco.The company's hotel property Oberoi, Dubai opened in June 2013 followed by Trident, Hyderabad which opened in September 2013. On 30 January 2016, EIH Limited announced closure of operations for its hotel The Oberoi New Delhi from 1 April 2016 for major renovation of the property. On 2 March 2017, EIH Limited announced that the company has delisted its GDRs from the London Stock Exchange, effective 28 February 2017 and accordingly the Deposit Agreement, dated 7 October 1994, between the company and The Bank of New York Mellon (the Depository) has also been terminated. As a result of the termination of the Deposit Agreement, any remaining holders of the GDRs will receive the net proceeds of the sale of the underlying equity shares sold by the Depository. At the time of announcement of Q4 March 2018 results on 30 May 2018, EIH Limited announced that its hotel property The Oberoi, New Delhi which was originally scheduled to reopen in early April 2018 has opened ahead of schedule on 1 January 2018. The property reopened after major renovation. During period 2021-22, the Company sold entire shareholding in EIH Flight Services Ltd, Mauritius. During 2022-23, The Bay Club, managed by the Oberoi Group was opened in November 2022 in Mumbai. Read More