Persistent Systems has posted a 64.35 per cent rise in consolidated net profit of ₹137.76 crore in fourth quarter ended March 31, 2021, compared with ₹83.82 crore recorded during the same period of previous fiscal.
On a sequential basis, the company’s consolidated net profit rose 13.92 per cent from ₹120.92 crore recorded in the third quarter ended December 31, 2020.
The mid-tier IT company’s consolidated revenue rose 20.69 per cent to ₹1,113.36 crore during the quarter under review, against ₹926.37 crore recorded in the fourth quarter of last year. The 12-month period ended March 31, the company posted a 32.4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit of 450.69 crore, while its revenues rose 17.4 per cent to ₹4,187.89 crore.
“While the year started with a lot of uncertainties, we had posted consistent growth during every quarter of the year. Because of the accelerated pace of digital adoption in the midst of the pandemic, we saw more and more customers adopting and converting more number of processes into digital,” Sandeep Kalra, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer at Persistent Systems told BusinessLine in an interaction.
Order book
The company, which had been signing deals of $3-5 million in annual revenues in the past three-four quarters, expects this trend to continue in FY22.
“These deals have been ramping up as more and more customers are comfortable in committing transformation projects, which are of 3-5-year deals.”
The company's board has recommended a final dividend of ₹6 per share. In January, the board declared an interim dividend of ₹14 per share taking the total dividend to ₹20 a share.
Demand & attrition
Riding on the demand acceleration, Persistent Systems added 1,650 personnel in the third quarter and 1,250 in the fourth quarter, taking its total employee strength to 13,680 as of March 31. The firm’s attrition also recorded an increase during the year, as there was a rise in demand for talent, which is expected to trend “upwards” in the next few quarters.
“We see some pressure on attrition, while appraisals and salary hikes are in progress. As we are growing, we would be adding about 800-1,000 freshers, while that of laterals would depend on the demand flow,” Kalra said.
“If we see certain competencies, we find a good company that we can integrate then we might look at them. But there is nothing in the immediate horizon,” Kalra said on acquisitions for FY22.