NIIT Q1 net profit at Rs 1,090.4 cr; board approves Rs 335-cr buyback

Skills and talent development company NIIT Ltd on Saturday posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,090.4 crore for the June quarter, and said its board has approved a buyback programme of up to Rs 335 crore.

Its net revenue declined by 2 per cent to Rs 210.3 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 214.3 crore in the year-ago period.

NIIT Ltd, which had registered a net profit of Rs 17.9 crore in the April-June 2018 quarter, said profit after tax for the June 2019 quarter includes one-time income on account of divestment of NIIT Ltd's shareholding in NIIT Technologies.

In April this year, funds affiliated with Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) bought about 30 per cent stake in NIIT Technologies from NIIT Ltd.

The transaction, which closed in May, saw NIIT Ltd receiving gross proceeds of Rs 2,020.4 crore in cash. The company had constituted a committee to make recommendations for utilisation of proceeds for rewarding shareholders.

The board has approved a proposal to buy back up to 2.68 crore equity shares from shareholders at Rs 125 per share, representing about 16 per cent of the total paid up equity share capital, for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 335 crore.

NIIT Vice Chairman and Managing Director Vijay K Thadani told PTI that he expects the buyback process to be completed by December this year, subject to regulatory approvals.

Commenting on the results, Thadani said the increase in revenue visibility for Corporate Learning Group (CLG) and the growth in 'Go forward' business in Skills and Careers (SNC) "vindicate the company's strategy and reaffirm the confidence of customers, in our ability to add value".

The company's CLG business recorded net revenue of Rs 152.4 crore. Under CLG, the company signed five new Managed Training Services (MTS) contracts in the June 2019 quarter, taking the MTS customers tally to 49.

CLG recorded revenue visibility of USD 264 million, up 18 per cent year-on-year.

The SNC group recorded net revenue of Rs 51.7 crore during the said quarter. The SNC 'Go forward' business grew by 15 per cent y-o-y.

MindChampion Learning Systems Ltd registered net revenue of Rs 6.2 crore.

The company's headcount stood at 2,521 people at the end of June 2019.