Niit Posts Rs 13.5 Crore Loss

The New Delhi-based software services and training company NIIT today reported a loss of Rs 13.5 crore in its global business for the first quarter-ended December 2001 against a net profit of Rs 34.3 crore that the company clocked for the same period a year back.

The company attributed this to the week quarter and the hit that the aviation sector and its largest customer British Airways suffered post September 11.

The consolidated revenues of the company (NIIT and its subsidiaries) has also decreased 42.24 per cent to Rs 175 crore in the first quarter against Rs. 303 crore for the corresponding period in the previous year.

While revenues from training business amounting to Rs 74.2 crore contributed 42 per cent to NIIT's total revenues, the software services business of Rs 100.7 crore contributed the remaining 58 per cent during the quarter-ended December 2001.

The revenues of NIIT Ltd (the company with out its subsidiaries) were at Rs 108.7 crore for the first quarter ended December 31 against Rs 155.8 crore in the same period last year. After providing for total expenses of Rs 99.8 crore, the operating profit (without other income) was Rs 8.9 crore for the first quarter ended December 31.

After providing for depreciation and deferred tax credit, profit after tax for the first quarter ended December 31 stood at Rs 3.46 crore compared with the profit after tax of Rs. 29.8 crore for the same period last year.

International business contributed Rs 94.4 crore while the remaining Rs 80.6 crore was contributed by the India geography. Of the international revenues, Americas contributed 42 per cent, followed by 32 per cent from Europe and 26 per cent from Asia-Pacific.

Commenting on NIIT performance in first quarter, NIIT chairman Rajendra S Pawar said, "The worst is behind us. Being engaged in new technologies in software, and the consumer business in education, we were among the first to be impacted by the slowdown. Our strategic initiatives in the past two quarters are starting to pay off. We now see quarter on quarter growth ahead of us."

The education business of the company has started to see signs of revival with the total students enrollments going up to 160, 000 in the quarter ended December 31, 2001 from 116,000 for the quarter before ended September 30, 2001 The total number of NIITs education centres has gone up by 30 to 2497.

NIIT, which has been operating pilot centres in China, enhanced its operations in partnership with 6 universities and 3 software technology parks. During the quarter ended December 31, the company's education centres in China crossed the 50-centre mark.

"The demand for IT skills in China, experience gained while preparing software professionals in China since 1998, and relationship with 6 universities spurs us to grow our China operations. We plan to grow to 500 centres in the next 5 years," said P Rajendran, Chief Operating Officer, NIIT.

The software business of the company also saw a fresh order intake of $18 million in the quarter ended December 31. The company has also added 18 new customers. During the quarter, NIIT's revenues from finance, banking and insurance practice grew from 21 per cent to 22 per cent.

"The first quarter software performance is along the expected lines, as the extraordinary events of September 11 were factored into our forecasts, said Arvind Thakur, Director & President Software Business, NIIT.

The total number of software professionals with the company has gone down by 332 to 3442 for the first quarter ended December 31. Various cost management initiatives by the company has helped it reduce costs by over Rs 20 crore in first quarter ended December 31.