Country Club earmarks Rs 300 cr for expansion

Leisure and infrastructure firm Country Club India has earmarked over Rs 300 crore for expansion activities in next five years and is eyeing one million membership in 10 years.

"We are spending Rs 100 crore this FY12 for developing 18 properties, which will be operational by FY 13. After finishing them, we will plan on further expansion both in the country as well as overseas for which we have earmarked over Rs 200 crore till FY16," Country Club Vice-Chairman and CEO Y Siddharth Reddy told PTI here.

Country Club currently has 2.5 lakh members and it is targeting to touch 1 million membership in 10 years time, he said.

Presently, Country Club India has 50 own properties, out of which 36 are directly-owned and 14 by promoter group.

It has 175 franchised establishments and over 4,000 affiliations all over the world through RCI.

The company, which has good presence in Tier-I cities through its clubs, is focusing on developing properties in Tier-II cities.

"Tier II cities are growing with good spending power where people are looking at quality and ambiance. Moreover, we are expanding phase by phase. After we establish in Tier-II, we may move to Tier-III," he added.

Presently, Country Club has overall 600 rooms which will be increased to 1,000 rooms in next five years, including India as well as overseas.

The company has two properties abroad, one in Dubai at a cost of Rs 185 crore and another in Kandy in Sri Lanka.

Rao said the company is in the consolidation phase and after winding up of the ongoing projects, "we will plan the next phase of expansion".

"We will look at increasing our overseas expansion, especially in the Middle East and the South Asian nations, which are our priority growth drivers," he said.

The company's net sales grew by 31.45% at Rs 92 crore in the quarter ended March 31, compared to Rs 70 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

The revenue for FY11 went up by 7.23% to Rs 321.92 crore from Rs 300.21 crore in FY10.

"We expect to witness similar growth in FY12 as we are in consolidation phase," Rao added.