Jessop net up 100% at Rs 9 crore

Engineering firm Jessop & Co, controlled by Kolkata-based Ruia Group since its disinvestment in August 2003, has more than doubled its net profit in a year, thanks to a vibrant economy and a booming infrastructure sector.

Net profit rose to Rs 9.98 crore in 2005-06 against Rs 4.82 crore in 2004-05. Turnover stood at Rs 78.76 crore compared with last year's Rs 77.95 crore.

The board of directors recommended a dividend of 8 per cent.

P K Ruia, chairman of Jessop, said better cost control and effective outsourcing pushed up profits.

"With an order book position of Rs 130 crore, the future looks brighter for Jessop," he added.

Jessop, a 218-year-old engineering unit, was nationalised after Independence but suffered heavy losses in the 1990s, which led to its transfer to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in 1995.