India's Mahindra Holidays posts higher Q1 profit on membership growth

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India reported a 61% rise in its first-quarter pre-tax profit on Thursday, helped by growth in memberships and steady room occupancies.

The company, which runs the 'Club Mahindra' brand of resorts, said its consolidated profit before tax rose to 140.4 million rupees ($1.7 million) in the June quarter from 87.1 million rupees a year earlier.

Its shares jumped 2.6% after the results.

Travel demand has rebounded strongly from the pandemic lows, benefiting companies from airlines to hotel operators.

The hospitality firm, part of the tech-to-tractor Mahindra Group, offers holiday packages in exchange for membership fees.

Mahindra Holidays added 3,692 members in the first quarter, taking total memberships to more than 300,000. This led to a 3% year-on-year rise in total membership sales.

Its revenue rose 6% to 6.23 billion rupees, helped by room occupancies, which stayed stable at 90%.

The company owns and operates 114 resorts in India and 33 properties across Finland, Sweden and Spain.

($1 = 83.6730 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)