ITC Hotels Limited on Thursday said its profit after taxation almost doubled to Rs 4.32 crore for the last quarter ended March, 2003 from Rs 2.21 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

"The long shadow that September 11, 2001 had cast on the hotels' business and international tourism will hopefully lift now and we are hopeful that economic revival and consequently the hospitality business will accelerate with the stepping up of global trade and commerce," ITC Hotels managing director S S H Rehman said after a board meeting to consider financial results for 2002-03.

Rehman said the hospitality industry should also come out of the SARS scare in due course while the package of measures that the government had announced for the tourism and hospitality business would certainly contribute to its resurgence.

Giving details of the financial performance, the managing director said for the fiscal 2002-03, its profit stood at Rs 0.57 crore, signifying a complete turnaround from the loss of Rs 3.12 crore during 2001-02.

Gross income from operations for the fourth quarter of last fiscal was Rs 43.86 crore, up by 20 per cent from Rs 36.63 crore in the last quarter of the previous year.

Net income from operations at Rs 38.79 crore was 23 per cent higher than the Rs 31.52 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.