The Hindu Business Line : Hexaware charts out expansion plan

Roadmap
The company will accelerate its expansion programme in Pune.
It has signed a MoU for course content in ERP with Symbiosis Institute.

Pune May 4 Setting up offices outside the country, doubling revenue and profit, and expansion in Pune.

These are the key elements of the roadmap that Hexaware Technologies has chalked out for itself.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Rusi Brij, Vice-Chairman and CEO, said that the company would be accelerating its expansion programme in Pune.

The company, which has acquired land in phase III of the Hinjewadi Infotech Park, is looking at commencing operations by the first quarter of 2009. (The company follows the calendar year.)

Mr Brij said that the facility would be developed in phases and would be spread over 25 acres.

An investment of about Rs 100 crore would go into the facility, which would have seating capacity of 8,000-10,000 people. In the first phase, it would be able to accommodate 2,000.

The company has a city location at the Cerebrum IT park and currently has 250 people on its rolls, which it would ramp up to 500 by the end of December 2007.

He said that the Chennai facility, which opened in September last year, would also be developed over four phases and would have a maximum capacity of 15,000 people. It is spread over 27 acres and is located at the Siruseri IT park.

The company has four locations in the country - Mumbai, Pune, Gurgaon and Chennai and a total headcount of 5,000.

Mr Brij said that the company is targeting at doubling revenue and profits within eight-10 quarters, starting from the first quarter of 2007.

The company closed the first quarter with revenue of Rs 264.3 crore and profit after tax of Rs 35.18 crore.

The growth is estimated to come in from key competency areas, which include travel and transportation, capital market, business intelligence, PeopleSoft, testing and human resources.

Mr Brij said that there are no plans for including any new vertical.

Next year, the company would open a new location in eastern Europe, which would be a development centre.

With multi-language capability, it would broadly serve the European market. Location and other plans for the centre are yet to be chalked out.

MoU with Symbiosis

On acquisition plans, Mr Brij said that the company is on the lookout in Europe. It is looking at companies in the range of $10-40 million and aims to close a buy by the end of the year.

It may be recalled that the company had acquired FocusFrame Metrics in November last year.

Mr Chandrasekhar Vaze, Pune Centre Head, said that it has signed an MoU for course content in ERP with Symbiosis Institute, Pune. It will offer content for the course, which would be taught by Hexaware personnel.

This would form part of the third semester programme and be integrated into the four verticals of financial, human capital management, marketing and supply chain management, which the institute offers. This is the first time that Hexaware has entered into an understanding with an institute.