Country Club to acquire properties in US and UK

Rs 350-crore expansion to create fitness centres in India, abroad on track

Having gained a stronghold in Sri Lanka, Thailand and West Asia, Country Club India Limited (CCIL), a Hyderabad-based leisure and entertainment company, is now setting its sights on the US and the UK markets.

"CCIL is keen to buy properties in and around London in the UK and in Chicago in the US. The time is right to buy properties as prices are relatively cheap in these countries," CCIL chairman Y Rajeev Reddy, said in a press release on Sunday.

Stating that the Indian operations were on an 'auto-pilot' mode and the company for some time now had been allocating greater resources to its international operations, he said this had been bearing fruit as nearly 50 per cent of the CCIL revenues were flowing in from overseas.

Meanwhile, the company has charted a Rs 350-crore expansion that aims to create fitness centres across India and abroad. Under the expansion, It has already launched 14 fitness centres in a span of six months at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai and Nagpur.

"As many as 11 new fitness centres are expected to come up in India and West Asia in the next three months," Reddy said, adding that the company had entered the UAE market by taking over an existing boutique hotel in Dubai for around Rs 175 crore.

The company has reported a net profit of Rs 56.13 crore for the financial year ended March 2013, as against Rs 49.58 crore during the same period a year ago, reflecting a growth of 13.21 per cent, while its net sales registered a growth of 27.87 per cent to Rs 475.69 crore, as compared to Rs 372 crore a year ago.