Taj GVK net profit dips by 32 percent

Hyderabad, April 30 (IANS) Hyderabad-based Taj GVK Hotels and Resorts Ltd, a joint venture between the GVK group and the Tata group's Indian Hotels Company Ltd, has reported a decline of 32 percent in its net profit during 2011-12.

The profit after tax deduction during the year was Rs.29.33 crore as compared to Rs.43.34 crore for the previous year.

The company's total income also dipped by two percent. The income during 2011-12 was Rs.255.94 crore, down from Rs.260.76 crore during 2010-11.

In the fourth quarter, the company registered a profit of Rs.9.56 crore before tax deduction, compared to Rs.19.72 crore in the corresponding period last year, registering a decline of 51 percent.

The company in a statement said that it was entitled for a 100 percent deduction towards the cost of Vivanta by Taj, which became operational in Hyderabad in the third quarter of the current year. The new 181-room hotel has increased the company's room inventory from 902 rooms to 1,083 rooms.

During the fourth quarter, the company's total income registered a growth of 3 percent to Rs.71.49 crore from Rs.69.68 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Taj GVK and Greenridge Hotels & Resorts Pvt Ltd, a GVK group company, are setting up a new five-star hotel comprising 275 rooms near Terminal 1C of the Mumbai international airport under the Taj brand.

Taj GVK in tranches would invest around Rs.110.25 crore in the project.

The company has also been allotted around 6 acres of land at Yelahanka near Bangalore for hotel projects. Taj GVK is also planning to enter the budget hotel segment through the Ginger brand in Andhra Pradesh.

The excavation work on the first Ginger hotel near the Shamshabad International Airport has been completed and civil work is expected to commence shortly.