Not very profitable at all. In fact, as I've alluded too on past comments, one of the reasons the British looked to begin taxing the American colonies was because the British East India company was on the verge of destruction; hence why the British passed a Tea Act, because in 1773 the EIC was going bankrupt. It's hard to pinpoint exactly when British Indian possesions began to become more profitable, but after the American revolution, Britain was freed of the burden of administration and military up keeping. By 1821, trade between the UK and US formalized, and the Napoleonic wars were over, so Britain began to pay much more attention to its Asian Colonies and even further, climaxing with its political subjugation of China in 1860 after the Second Opium War. Hopefully someone can provide actual statistics, but in 1775 keep in mind that the French, Dutch, and Portuguese all had stake in India too before Britain kicked them out.