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Rolta eyeing 20% growth in 2002

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CIOL Bureau
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IRIS



"Rolta India is targeting a 20 percent growth in topline as well as bottomline for calendar year 2002, and if we can achieve 25 percent, it will be excellent," said Kamal K Singh, chairman and managing director (CMD), Rolta India in an exclusive interview given to myiris.com. "We are looking at an exports target of Rs 55-60 crore, a growth of 20 per cent," he added.



"US is still looking weak, Nasdaq is ruling below 1700 and Dow Jones is also lacklustre. We hope US will come out of the recession by the year end. If this happens, calendar year 2003 will be a much better year for the company. As far as domestic markets are concerned, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has estimated a growth of 6.00-6.50 per cent, which is good. The domestic market will provide us more opportunities," Singh said, while commenting on recession and US slowdown. He believes the current recession will force more companies to outsource IT-enabled services from cost-effective providers which will be a big opportunity for Indian players.



Q1 performance

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Commenting on the first quarter (Q1) results, Singh said, "2001 was a different and difficult year for the company which was reflected in Q1 2002 as orders of 2001 were reflected in 2002. US and domestic sluggishness affected the company's performance but not in a big way compared to other companies as the company is more focussed on domestic rather than international markets."



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"Secondly, we are in high-end IT-enabled services and not in software development. What happened in 2001 is not expected in 2002 so we have done reasonably well sequentially." For Q1 2002, the company`s performance is impressive on a quarter-on-quarter basis, while it shows a marginal rise year-on-year.



It posted a net profit of Rs 31.19 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2002, compared to Rs 30.70 crore in corresponding period last fiscal. Total income increased from Rs 80.22 crore to Rs 81.53 crore.

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Entry into new areas



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"We are in the higher end of IT-enabled services right from the beginning and are interested in technology and labour-intensive opportunities such as satellite imaging, hydro graphics and charting. We are working on database creation which will help companies improve plant maintenance," said Singh.



Subsidiaries

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Rolta in 2001 invested over $6 million in its overseas subsidiaries. The investment was not for relationship development. The company has production facilities in India and investments in subsidiaries is to make marketing and delivery of services more efficient. (Subsidiaries will be used as front-end offices). Sometimes, jobs are needed to be done onsite so they require much intense delivery and marketing facilities.



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The company has recently inaugurated an advanced engineering software and eServices centre in Atlanta USA. This new building spread over 26,000 sq ft will be the new US headquarters of Rolta International Inc. This centre is expected to add thrust to the company`s business opportunities and will enable the company to aggressively address its customers. To further strengthen its presence in the American continent, Rolta has recently set up Rolta Canada. In addition, steps are at an advanced stage for setting up a subsidiary in the UK.



Roltanet

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"The company has achieved its objectives and is rated the No 1 Internet service provider (ISP) by many independent agencies. It has a good customer base and is making reasonable revenues. The company has signed an Internet telephony agreement with the government last week which will allow the company to provide Internet telephony. We are coming out with a package for individuals to use Internet telephony. The service will be out in May," he added.



Overseas listing



"It has been on the horizon for the last two years and we will certainly go for it at the right time once the market recovers," said Singh.

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