> *Jefferies: ITC Hotels | Strong Franchise; Initiate with BUY* ITC Hotels is the #2 listed hotelier, has an owner/operator model, a net cash balance sheet, with diversified brand/geo presence. It is currently ramping up recent (underutilised) greenfield projects (~20% of keys) and now adding rooms via mgmt contracts. We peg ITCH's earning to grow at 19% CAGR over FY24-FY27e also aiding improvement in ROCEs to 12% by FY27e. ITCH trades at 20x FY27 EV/EBITDA, a 25%+ discount to 27x for IHCL, which we believe can narrow. BUY. *Initiate with BUY, PT Rs240:* ITCH is seeing continuing of long tenured Hotels mgmt team and post demerger, we believe that the independent new existence will help improve focus on return/growth. Co has also recently constituted a board with 50% independent directors. We peg ITCH's EBITDA/PAT to grow at 16%/19% CAGR over FY24-FY27e. We initiate ITCH with BUY, valuing overall Hotel EBITDA at 30x FY27 EV/EBITDA (vs 37x target EV/EBITDA of IHCL).