Financial technology company Polaris Software Labs today said it plans to enter into "newer geographies" this year.
The company, which already has an overseas presence, will enter into new markets like Eastern Europe, Central and Latin America and South Africa, Polaris Software Labs Managing Director and Founder-Chairman Arun Jain told reporters here.
He said the company will enter these markets by appointing a "Direct Sales Force" or by acquiring companies in those locations. "Initially we will focus on Africa, because it has 52 countries nearby," he said.
On the proposed investments, he said a company normally needs to invest "half a million" or some "high numbers", but did not give a concrete figure.
Headquartered in Chennai, Polaris currently has presence in Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Riyadh, Belfast, Zurich, Frankfurt, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Fremont, Pittsburgh and Chile.
Arun was here to participate in the company's 17th Annual General Meeting and also to announce the company's results for the first quarter.
"For the quarter ended June 30, 2010, profit after tax grew to 46 per cent to reach Rs 46.60 crore from Rs 31.84 crore in the same quarter of last year," he said.
Total income grew by 18 per cent to Rs 367.96 crore in the same quarter as against Rs 312.22 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
During the year, the company witnessed a balanced distribution of revenues from various geographies, with American operations contributing 43 per cent, European activities 27 per cent and the Asia-Pacific region and Japan contributing 30 per cent, he said.
Stating that Polaris' cash reserves stood at Rs 500 crore, Jain said the company will set up a new office in Bangalore as part of its expansion plans, which will serve as the back office development centre to support growing business opportunities in the region.
He said the company was actively working on "cloud computing" for rural and cooperative sector banks. Currently, they are testing newer applications for banks. "We will announce on October 2 about the application based on cloud computing.... Currently, we are testing it...," he said.
On the contract they secured from Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank to implement core banking solutions in all 22 of its district central cooperative banks, he said, "This was their first step in this direction (cloud computing)."
Earlier, addressing shareholders at the 17th AGM, Jain said the company will continue to make acquisitions to complement its portfolio of services and products.
