Persistent Systems’ Q3 net profit rises 16%
December quarter revenue rose 14.3% year-on-year to Rs494.6 crore, says Persistent Systems
Mumbai: Persistent Systems Ltd, a mid-sized software services exporter, said on Saturday that its fiscal third quarter net profit rose 16% from a year ago to ₹ 74.4 crore, boosted mainly by new digital partnerships.
Revenue in the December quarter rose 14.3% from the year-ago period to ₹ 494.6 crore. Volume growth in the quarter was 5.9%. Dollar revenue was up 13.7% year-on-year to $79.52 million in the quarter under review.
On a sequential basis, net profit rose 4.4%, while revenue increased 6.6%. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Editda) margin came in at 20.1% in the quarter under review.
“2015 is an important year for the company as we celebrate our 25th year. Technology and innovation continue to be at the centre of our strategy to focus on the ‘How’ of digital transformation," said chairman and managing director Anand Deshpande. “During the quarter, we strengthened our leadership team to drive this technology-led strategy along with forming new partnerships and enhancing how we train our employees on the technologies that drive digital transformation."
“Next year onwards, we plan to start giving a break-up of our services revenue which will be some reflection on our digital revenue," Deshpande said in a phone interview with Mint. Already, Persistent is able to charge a 10% premium for its new digital projects due to strong demand for the same, especially in the US, he added.
North America continues to be the fastest growing and largest market for the company while the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and retail verticals are driving growth.
During the December quarter, Persistent Systems appointed Siddhartha Chatterjee as the new chief technology officer and Thomas Klein as general counsel and senior vice-president of corporate development. Despande said the two appointments would aid in going after acquisitions in the enterprise and digital space.
The company launched the Persistent Computing Institute on 11 November 2014 to help train more students in new technologies to be better employable to IT companies. The Institute has partnered with two colleges in Pune—Vishwakarma Institute of Technology and College of Engineering, Pune—to take this forward, and plans to partner with another four to six colleges in the next six months, introducing two-three new courses in each of the colleges. It also plans to expand its current mentor team from six to 12 in the next six months.
Attrition stood at 14.7% in the quarter, while total headcount stood at 8,296 as of 31 December. Deshpande said Persistent is looking to hire 500 laterals in the March quarter to aid with the company’s digital transformation, including digital service offerings for non-product companies.
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