Patni Q1 net income dips 39%, appoints new ED

On a sequential basis (quarter ended December 2007), net income was down by 27.3 per cent from Rs 99.7 crore while its revenues increased by 2.9 per cent from Rs 686.19 crore.

The company reported revaluation and mark-to-market foreign exchange loss for the quarter at $2.2 million (Rs 8.9 crore) compared with forex exchange gain of $4.7 million (Rs 18.5 crore) in the previous comparable quarter. The quarter end rate for debtor's revaluation was Rs 40.11 per dollar.

The Mumbai-based firm also announced the appointment of Louis Theodoor (Loek) van den Boog as executive director with a view to strengthen the management team. Loek has been an independent director with the company since March 2005.

Narendra K Patni, chairman and CEO, said, "While revenues and profits are in line with our guidance, we are in a cautious market situation with uncertainty and volatility in global markets. We are running our business with lower than normal visibility. We are making all the investments necessary to diversify our business."

Client acquisitions during the quarter were 34 (37). Number of active clients was 331 at the end of the quarter compared with 318 in Q4 2007.

Executive Director Loek van den Boog, said, "We are committed to make Patni a next generation services company. We are confident of our abilities to transform the business with mix of internal and market based measures to enhance overall shareholder value with profitable and sustainable growth."

Surjeet Singh, chief financial officer, said, "We are actively looking for strategic acquisitions and shall invest in the business on all dimensions. We are seeking these acquisitions in BPO, enterprise applications and consulting, specifically in the UK and continental Europe and are expanding geographically to enhance our presence in the region."

Patni's gross margin at 28.7 per cent for this quarter was negatively impacted due to increase in immigration cost on account of US H 1B filing and drop in utilisation net of other operating costs.