B K Birla group outfit Jay Shree Tea & Industries Ltd is looking to leverage its land bank to foray into real estate. However, the plans are still in a nascent stage.
According to Jayashree Mohta, Vice-Chairperson, Jay Shree Tea, the company will invest an estimated Rs 30-40 crore for its real estate venture.
“We would like to leverage our existing land bank in Kolkata for real estate. Our initial projects, preferably residential, would be based out of Kolkata,” Mohta told reporters following the 67th AGM of the company.
The company has around 9,000 sq.m. (around 3 acres) that it would like to utilise for real estate venture. However, it was not clear whether the land were located in Kolkata or all across the country.
“Whether we would buy new plots in future or not is a decision we will take based on the success of our initial projects in the city,” she said.
Jay Shree, she said, had earlier done two residential projects in the upscale localities of Sarat Bose Road and Alipore of Kolkata.
To a specific query on whether the development of projects would be carried out by the Birla Group or by third party developers, Mohta said: “We are exploring the possibilities.”
Sale of land
Meanwhile, the company has sold off certain land in the city during the first quarter of 2013-14.
R.K. Ganeriwala, CFO of the company with interest in tea, sugar and chemicals, told Business Line that the profit of 26.61 crore, out of the sale proceeds of around Rs 30 crore, added to other non-operating income during the quarter.
The total Q1 (for the period ended June 30) operating income, however, was down at Rs 108.61 core against Rs 137.34 crore in the comparable quarter last fiscal.
“Weather related problems in the tea segments in April and May reduced the total quantity even though the average price realisation was Rs 5 a kg higher than that in the previous year. Production of the seasonal crop, however, became normal in June,” Ganeriwal said.
FY’14Q1 net profit stood at Rs 17.02 crore (Rs 4.86 crore) despite Rs 1.70 a kg lower sugar realisation.
The Rs-5 Jay Shree stock ended up 2.19 per cent at Rs 77.10 on the BSE today.