Daspalla group net zooms 266 per cent

Vizag-based Daspalla Groups, which is into hospitality, chit fund and wire ropes manufacturing businesses, has registered 266 per cent growth in net profits during the fiscal ended March 31, 2005 as compared to previous year. This despite winding up of loss-making seafood export business.

Daspalla group earned a net profit of about Rs 1.54 crore in 2004-05, as against Rs 42 lakh in the preceding year, thus posting a growth of about 266 per cent.

"During 2003-04 our group's total turnover was Rs 46 crore. Of it, around Rs 5 crore was generated through seafood export business. But the group lost around Rs 50 lakh on export business, so our net profits were limited to just Rs 42 lakh in that year. Keeping this in mind, we had to wind up the seafood export business in 2004-05. This fiscal, we earned a net profit of Rs 1.54 crore with Rs 54 crore turnover," M Raghavendra Rao, managing director, Daspalla group, told Business Standard.

In 2004-05, the group clocked a turnover of Rs 20 crore on hotels (three hotels with 227 rooms and restaurants at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada), Rs 25 crore on wire rope business and Rs 9 crore on chit fund business.

"In the current year, we are eyeing Rs 60 crore turnover," Rao said.

Daspalla Group is also setting up a 3-star hotel in Hyderabad. "We are constructing a 100-room hotel at Jubilee Hills with an investment of about Rs 12 crore. The work has already started and within 18 months, we should be able to complete it.

The group will contribute Rs 4 crore as equity and the remaining would be raised from banks and financial institutions," he said.

The group plans to spend about Rs 35 lakh on upgrading hotel rooms at Visakhapatnam and Rs 20 lakh to construct a marriage hall at Kakinada, Rao said.