NIIT declares 40% dividend, revenue up by 36%

BANGALORE: NIIT Ltd. has posted a global revenue of Rs 880 crore for the year ended September 30, 1999, up by 36 per cent over corresponding period last year (Rs 648 crore). Net profit at Rs 142.8 crore after providing for extra depreciation of Rs 15.90 crore has risen by 32 per cent (Rs 108.4 crore). Cash Profits increased to Rs 186 crore against Rs 138 crore for the corresponding period last year representing an increase of 35 per cent.

The board of directors of the company has also recommended a dividend of 40 per cent (37.5 per cent) on an enhanced equity of Rs 38.66 crore after the 1:2 bonus issue during 1998-99. NIIT's international business, which constitutes 52 per cent of its total revenues, saw a growth of 46 per cent to touch Rs 453.9 crore (Rs 312 crore). The US geography continued its strong growth rate at 53 per cent to contribute Rs 207.4 crore (Rs 135 crores) to the total revenues.

Software Solutions business recorded revenues of Rs 398.3 crore, representing a growth of 47 per cent (Rs 271.2 crore). Software Solutions revenues today constitute 45 per cent of the NIIT's global revenues. Operating margin at 33.6 per cent has improved (33.5 per cent) as a result of deployment of EVA based performance management system leading to overall improvement on all productivity parameters. Provisional EVA for the last year went up by 40 per cent to touch Rs 72 crore (Rs 51.3 crore).

The gross revenues per person month went up by 15 per cent while the net profits per person month increased by 12 per cent. As a result of efficient capital management NIIT emerged as a debt-free company signifying NIIT's strong financial strength. Since last year NIIT has been following the US GAAP norms of depreciation. This year NIIT has been even more conservative and has made a higher depreciation of Rs 15.90 crore over and above our stated depreciation policy.

Dwelling on the directions being pursued for the future, NIIT chairman Rajendra S. Pawar, said, "Emergence of the Internet is causing a fundamental shift in products, markets and technologies. NIIT is transitioning this discontinuity smoothly from being a pojects-to-products to an e-commerce solutions company while successfully leveraging NIIT's unusual business model. NIIT is not just Learning Solutions or a Software Solutions company. The close integration of knowledge from these two seemingly distinct businesses and the consistent performance will transform NIIT into a shining example of a Knowledge Corporation of the 21st century."