Polaris back in black with Rs 32.29 crore net profit

BS 200 SCORECARD

Polaris Software Lab's net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2006 touched Rs 32.29 crore against a loss of Rs 5.71 crore for the corresponding quarter last financial year.

Sequentially (quarter-on-quarter), its net profit grew 19.15 per cent over the previous quarter's figure of Rs 27.10 crore.

The company's revenues at the end of the third quarter stood at Rs 273.97 crore, up 34.77 per cent from Rs 203.28 crore posted in the corresponding quarter of 2005-06 and 7.20 per cent over the previous quarter's revenues of Rs 255.57 crore.

Polaris also crossed the Rs 100 crore mark in gross profit (Rs 104.38 crore) for the first time in Q3 of 2006-07. The gross margin stood at 38.10 per cent, despite 180-basis point (3 per cent) appreciation in the rupee. Operating profit (EBITDA) grew to Rs 47.39 crore from Rs 45.74 crore.

CEO & Chairman Arun Jain, in a statement, said, "We are seeing the trend of large banks being ready for legacy modernisation programmes in 2007. This market is expected to be close to $18.5 billion. Polaris, with its 7 Intellect Platforms built using SOA (services oriented architecture) technology, is well positioned to address these market needs. Though we are excited at the opening up of opportunities, we will continue to ensure further earnings growth by scaling up our business q-o-q."

The company added 18 new customers in the third quarter. With over 55 customers at the end of the quarter, it is now showing a double-digit q-o-q growth in profit after tax growth for Q3 in a row.