We are growing at a healthy rate: Desai

The second quarter that ended in December 2005 has been quite good for Mastek, what reasons do you attribute for it?



The last quarter was one of the most profitable ones ever. We registered a 14% quarter-on-quarter growth. We are growing at a healthy rate. The reasons behind the success can be manifold. One of the reasons was that we signed up a really major deal in the quarter. The second reason is the excellent performance by Mastek employees. We closed nearly 92% projects on time, in fact many project milestones and deadlines were achieved before deadline that resulted in some revenue credits being added to this quarter.

Mastek's India revenues have dipped slightly from Rs. 1.69 crore in Q1 to Rs. 1.58 crore in Q2, are you perturbed?



Not really, our Indian revenues are quite marginal and our focus is on the international space.

How many clients were added in Q2 and what is the company's offshore-onsite ratio?



We added a single client in Q2; it was a significant deal. Our offshore-onsite ratio continues to be healthy at 75:25.

What are your investments plans for the coming quarter, any new joint venture (like Deloitte Consulting and Carrekar Corp.) in the offing?



We made substantial investment in infrastructure over the last few quarters, established 500-seater in Pune, rented a 400-seater space in Mahape, Navi Mumbai. Currently we are in the process of setting up a 1000-seater space in Mahape, Navi Mumbai. Joint ventures are an important growth dimension for us; we look into that on a case-by-case basis.

You continue to have a strong focus on the European market, is it a conscious decision?



You could say that. We had good successes in the U.K. over the years; the clients out there have very well received our products and services. Various companies and governments have constantly chosen us over competition. Hence, we have developed a strong presence in the European markets. Having said that, we are also closely looking at the market in the U.S., which is indeed the largest market.

Your total headcount stood at approximately 3000 at the end of Q2, are you adding up more people?



We are constantly adding more numbers and increasing our employee base. It is an ongoing process.

Elixir solution for the insurance industry was launched in India recently, how has been the response so far?



The response had been quite good. We already have two customers for Elixir. We are very hopeful on Elixir platform, as the insurance industry hasn't seen anything like this before. Elixir has been quite popular in European and U.S. markets and there is no reason why it should not be so in India.

Finally, what was the highlight of Q2?



The feather in Mastek's cap was the deal with Capita Group. It is a significant deal from the Indian standpoint as well, we are finally moving up the value chain. This deal endorses the fact that our Elixir solution is steadily becoming a de-facto standard for the insurance industry. In the past we had a couple of deals with Capita, but the current one would rank as one of the top 2-3 deals in the history of the company.