Chennai: The highly brand conscious Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) which rolls out its red carpet for budget travellers too, may be getting a sinking feeling now. The company has registered a negative growth, indicating a decline in its gross profit by Rs 10.47 crores for the 2015 - 16 fiscal.
The increase in corporate overheads reduced the gross profit of this state-owned enterprise while the December cyclone corroded its revenue, the Corporation reveals. During 2015 - 16 fiscal, the TTDC netted a turnover of Rs 100.88 crore as against Rs 105.98 crore during the previous fiscal, thus registering a negative growth of 4.81 per cent.
The decline in turnover is attributed to the decline in the turnover of lodging, bars, petrol bunk and transport division to the tune of Rs 1.30 crore, Rs 99 lakh, Rs 4.04 crore and Rs 1.03 crore respectively. The net loss has been put at Rs 1.53 crore during 2015 - 16. The gross profit declined because of the increase in corporate overheads to the tune of Rs 2.03 crore.
“The profitability has been eroded due to the extraordinary expenditure of '5.41 crore relating to establishing the Tamil Nadu Maritime Heritage Museum at Mamallapuram,” as per the annual report. Its only consolation is its boating sector, which had achieved a growth of 5 per cent.
