London: The Tata Group's international business helped push its profits up by 5.3 percent last year, with the Indian conglomerate contributing 8 billion pounds to the UK's GDP in 2013-14.
Tata Sons chairman Cyrus P Mistry told the group's leadership and senior management at the Annual Group Leadership Conference (AGLC) in Mumbai today that the group increased its revenues to USD 108.78 billion?for 2014-15, up from USD 103.27 billion in the previous year.
Nearly 68 percent of these revenues came from international markets, including the UK and Europe, and the group?invested about USD 10 billion worldwide?during the year with over 65,000 employees?across more than?40 UK towns and cities.
The group closed the financial year with a?market capitalisation of USD 134 billion, up 17 percent over the previous year.
"Sustainable profitable growth is the key building block for long term stakeholder value creation," Mistry said.
He said the Tata group would need to maintain its success in a changing world marked by "global volatility and an inexorable shift towards a digital future".
He also highlighted the opportunities all across the globe and those presented by a rapidly growing Indian market, whose relative importance in the global economy would "substantially increase by 2030".
The Tata Group's UK-focused ventures include Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the country's biggest investor in R&D in the manufacturing sector; Tetley, the second-largest tea brand globally and among the most bought tea brands in the UK; and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which serves more than 350 clients in Europe, including British Airways, BT, Marks & Spencer and the UK Home Office.
Mistry also paid respects to former President APJ Abdul Kalam who died on Monday, describing him as "a great visionary and patriot who always believed in India's potential".
