Subex co-promoter sheds 14% stake

P J Alex, co-promoter and executive director of Subex Systems, has offloaded nearly 13 lakh shares equalling 14 per cent stake in the company for Rs 55 crore.

He has also submitted his resignation from his position which the board of directors will consider in couple of weeks.

Alex, 40, after this sale still holds 8 per cent stake in the company.

According to Subex MD Subash Menon, Alex in the past few years was not operationally active in the company and had become a pure financial investor.

"As I understand, he is pursuing other interests and this is one of the reasons why he has offloaded a substantial part of his stake," Menon said.

Menon further added that Alex has sold his shares in the market and, as he understands, a group of long-term investors has picked up these shares.

"The details of this are still awaited." Alex was not available for comment.

Subash Menon along with P J Alex had started this software product company in 1992 focussing on telecom fraud management with an investment of Rs 20,000. Last fiscal the company recorded a top line of close to Rs 88 crore and a net profit of close to Rs 18 crore.

Intel Capital, which had invested in Subex during its early days for at a share value of around Rs 85, recently reduced its 10 per cent holding by half. The Subex share today closed at Rs 422.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 8.42 crore for the three months to December 2004, up 63.6 per cent year on year. Revenues for the quarter were at Rs 33 crore, up 44.4 per cent year on year.

The board had recommended an interim dividend of 10 per cent on the company's equity share capital.

As per the guidance for FY05 issued by the company product revenues are to grow by about 30-35 per cent. The service business is to grow by 7-10 per cent while overall revenue growth will be 15 - 20 per cent and net profit should grow by 25 - 30 per cent.