The Hindu Business Line : Mastek consolidated Q4 net up 15%

Mumbai, July 20 Mastek Ltd has reported a 14.8 per cent rise in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2007. Net profit for the quarter was Rs 23.65 crore compared with Rs 20.59 crore posted during the same quarter of the previous year.

However, the company’s total income was down by 3.2 per cent at Rs 187.15 crore (Rs 193.41 crore).

This was the first quarter of operations after the Deloitte joint venture was discontinued in March this year. (Consequently its results are not strictly comparable with that of a year ago, said the company). If the Deloitte joint venture financials were not considered the company’s total income for the quarter would have shown a 12 per cent increase, said a statement from Mastek.

Appreciating Rupee

(Mastek sold its entire equity stake in Mastek-DC Offshore Development Company Pvt Ltd to affiliates of Deloitte for an undisclosed amount). For the year ended June 2007, Mastek posted a 54.7 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 106.91 crore (Rs 69.09 crore). Total Income rose by 15.5 per cent to Rs 810.35 crore (Rs 701.1 crore).

The appreciating rupee was not much of a concern for Mastek as it had only a 1 percentage point impact on the net margins for the June quarter, said Mr R.S. Desikan, Group CFO and Finance Director. This is because Mastek earns about 65 per cent of its revenues from contracts in the UK while 35 per cent revenues come from the US.

New Verticals

Without considering the contribution of the erstwhile Deloitte Consulting joint venture, net profit for the fiscal was up by 49.4 per cent at Rs 85.8 crore (Rs 57.4 crore). Revenues were 25.5 per cent higher at Rs 743.2 crore from Rs 591.8 crore.

Mastek has appointed Mr R.S. Desikan as Group CFO and Finance Director; Mr P. Rajagopal Tampi as Head of Delivery Operations; and Mr Dinesh Maheshwary as Chief Capability Officer.

Mastek is planning to enter into new verticals — healthcare and financial services — by fiscal year 2009, Mr Sudhakar Ram, Chairman and Managing Director, said, without giving further details.

For the July-September quarter, Mastek expects its consolidated net profit to be to be in the range of Rs 25 crore to Rs 26 crore, while total income would be between Rs 205 crore and Rs 210 crore.