Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd

Price story Before the numbers, the tape. A stock price moves through four repeating seasons: a flat base (stage 1), an advance (2), a top (3), a decline (4). Where the price sits in that cycle frames everything below.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd trades at ₹486, in a confirmed uptrend and 3 weeks into that stage. That is +11.3% against its own 200-day average. It sits at 85% of a 52-week range of ₹398 to ₹501. On relative strength it has been ahead of the NIFTY 500 on a trailing-13-week view for 9 straight weeks.

Today the stock is in a confirmed uptrend — week 3 of stage 2, confirmed. At ₹486 it trades +11.3% versus its 200-day average and sits at 85% of its 52-week range (₹398–₹501).

Against the market, two honest reads. Cumulative: over the last 1.1 years the stock moved +12% while the NIFTY 500 moved +0% — ahead of the index over the full window. Recent form: on a trailing-13-week view the stock has been ahead for 9 straight weeks — the ribbon below is that same metric, week by week.

What would end the trend, mechanically: two Friday closes in a row below the 200-day line. That is the exit rule — no debates.

→ The trend is one thing; the bill is another. Are you paying up for it? Next: the P/E sits at the 71st percentile of its own range.

Valuation P/E is the price of ₹1 of annual profit: how many rupees the market pays for each rupee the company earns in a year.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd trades at 38.8× P/E, at the pricey end of its own range (71st percentile). Its long-run median P/E is 37.8×, measured across 0.5 years of weekly readings. This places the multiple against the stock’s own record, and says nothing about what the business is worth.

Today's P/E of 38.8× is at the pricey end of its own range (71st percentile), against a long-run median of 37.8× measured over 0.5 years of weekly readings. This is a comparison against the stock's own history — not a claim about what it is worth.

Why the multiple sits where it does: over the past year annual EPS moved +597.7% against a +5.3% price move — earnings outran the price, pushing the multiple DOWN its own range.

Put together: the multiple is full against its own past, so the story rests on the earnings line underneath it, not the multiple.

→ Cheap or dear rides on the earnings. Are they actually growing? Next: the fundamental stage — where the business sits in its arc, and how growth has compounded.

Stage: No read Every business sits somewhere on a fundamental arc, and this page names the spot before anything else. The last twelve quarters of revenue, profit and EPS growth — plus the return the business earns on its capital — are read as curves: Deteriorating (the curves are falling), Turning around (a trough has just formed and the last few quarters lift off it), Improving (the climb off the trough is sustained), Consistent (steadily positive with healthy returns), Topping out (still high but decelerating from the peak). When the curves genuinely disagree the read is Mixed; too little history is No read. CAGR (compound annual growth rate) is the smooth yearly pace that turns the starting value into the latest one — the fairest way to compare growth across different time spans. Read the columns together: if the 1-year number towers over the 10-year, recent growth is running hotter than the long-run trend. A dash means that window is not held, or the base year was a loss (where a growth rate is not meaningful).

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd reads as no read on its fundamental arc. Under eight usable quarters on the growth trio — not enough history for an honest trajectory read. The read is built from 5 quarters across 1 curve, on partial evidence.

Why it matters: with too little history, an honest page says so instead of guessing a trajectory.

One or more growth curves carry a base-effect spike — a large year-on-year move off a near-zero or loss-making comparable quarter. Those spikes are capped before the classifier reads the trajectory, and shown pinned on the chart, so a single distorted quarter does not drive the stage call.

Fewer than eight usable quarters on the growth curves — this page will not guess a trajectory from a stub of history.

→ The stage names the trajectory. Next: the revenue line that produces it, quarter by quarter.

4-Factor Sector Score

63.3/100 — rank 4 of 24 in Hotels · 83% evidence confidence

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd scores 63.3 out of 100 against the 24 companies it is compared with in Hotels, ranking 4. Balanced evidence: keep at normal research priority and require another comparable period before raising conviction.

The four contributions add to the total exactly: 25.6 + 13 + 7.9 + 16.8 = 63.3. This is the SAME number shown on the sector comparison — it is computed once, for the whole peer set, and read here.

What would change it: The read weakens if profit growth turns negative or margin improvement reverses while sector-relative strength deteriorates.

Revenue Revenue is the top line: everything the company billed its customers in the period.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd reported ₹484 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +13.9% year on year. That is the 4th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 3 years it has compounded at 21.1% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹1,527 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹1,527 Cr.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd reported ₹484 Cr of revenue in the Mar 26 quarter, +13.9% year on year. That is the 4th straight quarter of year-on-year growth. Over 3 years it has compounded at 21.1% a year. The last full year, FY26, came in at ₹1,527 Cr. The last four reported quarters add to ₹1,527 Cr.

FY26 revenue came in at ₹1,527 Cr (+17.4% on the year), capping 3 years at 21.1% compound. The latest quarter (Mar 26) printed ₹484 Cr, +13.9% year on year — the 4th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

Pace check: the last four quarters averaged +17.6% growth against the decade's 21.1% — the current year is running slower than its own long-run rate.

→ Revenue grew — did margins hold as it scaled? Next: 55.0% this quarter (+2.0 pp YoY).

Operating margin Operating margin is what is left of every ₹100 of sales after running the business, before interest and tax. It is the cleanest read on pricing power and cost control.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd's operating margin is 55.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, +2.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 4 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 44.0% to 48.0%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd's operating margin is 55.0% in the Mar 26 quarter, +2.0 percentage points against the same quarter a year ago. Across 4 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 44.0% to 48.0%. The current quarter is running above every full year in that window.

The latest quarter's operating margin is 55.0%, +2.0 pp against the same quarter a year ago. Across 4 fiscal years the operating margin has ranged 44.0%–48.0%.

Why the margin moved: operating margin went +1.5 pp year on year while gross margin went +0.1 pp — the gain came mostly below the gross line: operating leverage, with costs spread over a bigger revenue base.

→ Margins held — did that reach the bottom line? Next: profit +47.0% in the latest quarter.

Net profit Net profit is what survives every cost, interest and tax — the number EPS, dividends and book value all grow from.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd earned ₹172 Cr of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter, +47.0% year on year. It is the 2nd consecutive quarter of growth. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹403 Cr. That is 35.5% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹117 Cr. 2 of the last 8 reported quarters were loss-making.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd earned ₹172 Cr of net profit in the Mar 26 quarter, +47.0% year on year. It is the 2nd consecutive quarter of growth. Full-year FY26 profit was ₹403 Cr. That is 35.5% of the quarter's revenue. The same quarter a year earlier earned ₹117 Cr. 2 of the last 8 reported quarters were loss-making.

Mar 26 profit was ₹172 Cr, +47.0% year on year — the 2nd consecutive quarter of growth. On the full year, FY26 printed ₹403 Cr (+739.6%).

→ Profit rose — but did the cash follow? Next: 295% of the last 2 years' profit arrived as cash.

Cash flow — the router The P&L says what was earned; the cash-flow statement says what actually arrived. Operating cash flow (CFO) against profit is the cleanest lie detector in the accounts.

Over the last 2 fiscal years 295% of Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd's reported profit arrived as operating cash — the cash follows the profit. In FY26 that was ₹777 Cr of operating cash against ₹403 Cr of profit. After ₹1,759 Cr of capital spending, ₹−982 Cr was left as free cash.

FY26: operating cash of ₹777 Cr against reported profit of ₹403 Cr, leaving free cash of ₹−982 Cr after ₹1,759 Cr of capital spending. Across the last 2 fiscal years the conversion rate is 295% of profit.

Cash-flow readings here are annual — that is the resolution our series carries, so this section moves once a year.

Why conversion sits at 295%: the cash cycle tightened 158 days between FY23 and FY26 — cash that used to wait in the cycle now reaches the bank sooner.

Router verdict: the bigger cash user is investment — capital spending ran 8.0× depreciation over three years, so the next section's job is to check what that build-out is buying.

→ So follow the cash to where it goes. Next: ₹3,197 Cr of building over 3 years.

Where the cash goes Working capital is the cash tied up between paying suppliers and getting paid: debtor days (customers owe), inventory days (stock waits), and the cash conversion cycle (the whole loop, in days of sales).

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd's cash conversion cycle runs −128 days in FY26, down from 30 days in FY23. Capital spending ran ₹3,197 Cr over the last 3 years. At FY26 sales of ₹1,527 Cr each day of that cycle holds about ₹4.2 Cr, so roughly ₹−535 Cr sits inside the business at any moment.

FY26: debtors at 19 days, inventory at 112 days — roughly 3.7 months of stock waiting to sell; that is where the cash sits while it waits — for a full cycle of −128 days, tighter than FY23's 30.

The full loop: cash goes out to suppliers and production on day 0; stock waits 112 days to sell; customers pay about 19 days after that; and suppliers themselves are paid at 258 days — netting out to the −128-day cycle.

In money terms: at FY26 sales of ₹1,527 Cr, each day of the cycle holds about ₹4.2 Cr — so the −128-day loop keeps roughly ₹−535 Cr sitting inside the business at any moment.

On the investment side: capital spending of ₹3,197 Cr over the last 3 fiscal years against ₹401 Cr of depreciation — the company is building well ahead of wear-and-tear. Capital work-in-progress stands at ₹229 Cr (FY26) — capacity paid for but not yet earning.

The synthesis: the cash is going into capacity, not disappearing into the cycle — the question becomes whether the new capacity earns.

→ Does all this activity actually earn its cost of capital? Next: ROCE is 9% and the ROIC − WACC spread is −4.9 pp.

Return on capital Return on capital employed (ROCE) is the profit the whole business earns on all the money in it — equity and debt together. It is the single best test of whether growth creates value or just size.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd earns a ROCE of 9% in FY26. Return on invested capital clears the cost of that capital by −4.9 percentage points, so growth here is not yet paying for the capital it uses. The wiring behind it is 26.4% net margin on 0.17× asset turns.

FY26 ROCE is 9%.

🚨 Why the return is what it is — the wiring (FY26): 26.4% net margin × 0.17× asset turns × 1.39× balance-sheet leverage ≈ 6.2% on equity. Margin is doing the heavy lifting; leverage is modest — this is an earned return, not a borrowed one.

The capstone test — ROIC − WACC: 7.1% − 12.0% = a −4.9 pp spread. The 12.0% is a standing assumption for the cost of capital in India, not a per-stock estimate — read the sign and the size of the spread, not the decimals. Negative — growth at these returns destroys value until the returns recover.

→ Returns like these — is the balance sheet borrowing to make them? Next: debt-to-equity is 0.28.

Debt Debt-to-equity says how much of the business is funded by borrowings. Low is the safe corner; the trend matters as much as the level.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd carries total debt of ₹1,811 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹6,453 Cr as of Mar 26, a debt-to-equity of 0.28 — effectively unlevered. On the annual view that ratio went from 1.15 in FY25 to 0.28 in FY26. The returns elsewhere on this page are therefore earned rather than borrowed.

Mar 26: total debt of ₹1,811 Cr against shareholder equity of ₹6,453 Cr — a debt-to-equity of 0.28. On the annual view, debt-to-equity went from 1.15 (FY25) to 0.28 (FY26). The returns on this page are earned, not borrowed.

→ Who owns this, and are they adding or leaving? Next: Domestic institutions added 1.6 points over 4 quarters.

Ownership Who owns the stock, quarter by quarter: promoters (the controlling owners), foreign and domestic institutions, and the public. Steady accumulation by people close to the numbers is a signal; a quiet register is also an answer.

Domestic institutions added 1.6 points of Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd over 4 quarters, the biggest move on the register. That takes domestic institutions to 11.5% of the company. Foreign institutions moved −0.8 points over the same window, to 7.9%. The register is read on the four disclosed classes only; nothing is inferred between filings.

The register over the last two years — Domestic institutions: +1.6 points over 4 quarters to 11.5%; Foreign institutions: −0.8 points over 4 quarters to 7.9%; Promoters: +0.0 points over 4 quarters to 75.9%.

Why the register moved: domestic institutions drove it (+1.6 points), absorbed on the other side by foreign institutions (−0.8 points) — steady accumulation by institutions reading the same numbers this page reads.

→ One last check: does the safety math agree? Next: the balance-sheet safety line.

Safety line The Z-score estimates how far a company sits from balance-sheet distress — above roughly 3 is safe, below roughly 1.8 is the danger zone. It was built for manufacturers, so it is not applied to banks and lenders.

Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts Ltd: the Z-score is not available for this stock, so we say so rather than invent one. It is a distance-to-distress estimate from the balance sheet, not a forecast of failure. The debt, cash-flow and return sections above carry the balance-sheet evidence this page does hold, and each of them states its own reporting date.

The safety line in one sentence: the Z-score is not available for this stock, so we say so rather than invent one.

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