Jessop chairman Pawan K. Ruia in Calcutta on Monday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, May 9: Jessop & Co aims to get back on the dividend track in the current financial year.

Jessop wants to reward its shareholders as the profit is likely to cross Rs 10 crore this year, chairman Pawan K. Ruia said after the 73rd annual general meeting of the company here today.

?We will start paying dividend from this year itself. Even if we miss this target, we will definitely pay dividend from next year,? Ruia said.

He also vowed to take the company out of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) by this fiscal. ?We are taking all necessary steps to take it out of BIFR,? he added.

Jessop, which was divested to Ruia Cotex in 2003, has initiated a process to restructure its balance sheet.

It has already passed a resolution to reduce the face value of its share from Rs 10 to Re 1. It has an authorised share capital of Rs 100 crore.

This way, the company will be able to squeeze out Rs 90 crore, which then would be set off against accumulated loss.

Observers said the company has to come out of the BIFR and cease to be a sick unit to be able to distribute dividends.

If it manages to do so, Ruia himself will be most benefited as he has a 72 per cent stake in the company.

The new management has also initiated a process to buy out the residual 27 per cent government stake in Jessop. Ruia Cotex paid Rs 18.18 crore to buy a 72 per cent stake in 2003. The Centre will appoint a consultant to assess the value of the residual stake.