Country Club to enter UK, US mkts

Hyderabad: City-based Country Club India Ltd (CCIL), a leading leisure and entertainment company, which consolidated its position in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Middle East, has now set its sight on the UK and US markets as a part of its efforts to expand global foot print. "CCIL is keen to buy properties in and around London in UK as well as in Chicago in the US. The time is right to buy property, as prices are relatively cheap in these countries," Y Rajeev Redddy, Chairman, CCIL, said in a statement on Sunday.

Reddy, who visited UK and the US recently, stated that overwhelming response CCIL had received in Dubai spurred the company to make further inroads in the Middle East markets and bolster its global ambitions. "CCIL is at a stage where it has the wherewithal to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity presented by the international markets," he added Country Club had recently opened its UK offices in London at a glittering ceremony that was attended by UK Member of Parliament Virendra Sharma. The event also saw the launch of Country Club's UK specific membership card called Country Club Fortune. Claiming that the Indian operations were on 'autopilot' mode now and the company had been allocating more resources to the international operations, he said the move had been bearing fruit as nearly 50 per cent of the CCIL current revenues were from overseas. Meanwhile, Country Club has embarked on Rs 350-crore expansion plan that aims at creating fitness centers across India and overseas. Under this plan, the company has already set up 14 fitness centres within six months. The CCIL reported Rs 56.13 crore net profit for the fiscal ended on March 31, 2013, as compared to Rs 49.58 crore in the same period a year ago.