Ramco Systems to raise Rs 500 cr this year

Ramco Systems will raise up to Rs 500 crore through issue of equity shares this year, which the software products firm will utilise to repay debt and invest in marketing and brand building activities.

In July 2014, the Board of Directors of the Chennai-based company had approved raising up to Rs 500 crore through public offering or qualified institutional placement or private placement or a combination.

"We expect to raise the fund (Rs 500 crore) in this calendar year," Ramco Systems CEO Virender Aggarwal told PTI when asked about the status of the fund raising exercise.

The enterprise software firm will utilise this fund to repay all of its outstanding debt and use the remaining for marketing and brand building activities.

Ramco Systems' debt was at around Rs 280 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2014, Aggarwal said.

The company in 2013 had raised around Rs 123 crore that was utilised for branding and marketing operations as well as to retire some of its debt.

Aggarwal said the firm's products like Aviation on Cloud and Ramco HCM (a talent management solution) have gained wide spread acceptance among companies globally and the results of that were visible in its recent third quarter results.

Net profit in the December quarter of 2014-15 was the highest in the last 10 years on a comparable basis at $1.33 million (Rs 8.1 crore), he added.

The company had posted a net loss of Rs 5.5 crore in the third quarter of 2013-14.

"We have taken multiple steps to arrest losses, sustain growth and move to profitability. From entering new markets, to focusing on making the product highly usable, efforts on all directions were taken and this shows in our results," Aggarwal said.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2014, its consolidated income stood at $16.02 million (Rs 98.2 crore), a growth of 8 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 44 per cent year-on-year in US dollar terms.

Part of the $1 billion Ramco Group, Ramco Systems is a software company focused on consulting, products, and managed services business. It has 20 offices spread across India, APAC, the US, Canada, Europe, Middle East and Africa.