Withdrawal of SPTI benefits affects NIIT profit

NEW DELHI, INDIA: IT solutions organization NIIT Technologies Ltd today announced that its net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2011 was Rs. 41.2 crore, marginally up by 0.8 per cent up compared to the profit of Rs. 40.8 in the year-ago quarter, even as the revenues were up 12.8 per cent up YoY.

NIIT said the incidence of tax increased substantially during the quarter as a result of the withdrawal of STPI benefits resulting in net profits at same levels as last year.

Consolidated revenues were up at Rs. 328.8 crore compared to Rs. 315.7 crore last quarter and Rs 291.4 crore in the year-ago quarter, NIIT said in a press briefing here today. The revenue grew 41 per cent in BFSI, 35 per cent in travel and transport and 8 per cent in manufacturing and distribution sectors.

“Growth during the quarter was a result of significant expansion in business from international geographies which grew sequentially by 10 per cent,” said Arvind Thakur, chief executive officer of NIIT Technologies.

“We have strengthened our leadership team with several strategic hires to drive revenue growth and build solutions for the future,” added Thakur.

During this period, the company added 7 new customers and the net addition of employees was 459, the highest in any quarter, said NIIT. With this the headcount stood at 6265 as on June 30, 2011.

During the quarter, NIIT Technologies commissioned new SEZ campus in Greater Noida built over 25 acres. The built-up area of the new campus can house 3000 people and NIIT plans to enhance this capacity to over 12,000 people in the coming years.

Seven significant customer wins during the quarter led to $86 million of fresh order intake and $200 million of executable order book over the next 12 months, claimed the company. Five customers were added in the Travel and Transportation vertical and one each in BFSI and Manufacturing.

Revenue shares

NIIT said the business in the US and EMEA contributed to 37 per cent each of the total revenue share, while the revenue share from APAC stood at 15 per cent and India at 11 per cent.

“Our focus on non-linear business lines and recent transformational wins are a positive affirmation of our business model,” said Rajendra S. Pawar, chairman, NIIT Technologies.

During the quarter, the company signed a multi-million GBP contract with Eurostar International to provide infrastructure management services for its core business applications.

Recently, it also announced a strategic partnership with Morris Communications to provide integrated IT & BPO services to Morris Group.