NIIT Ltd, Asia's largest IT education company, today reported a net loss of Rs 1.5 crore for the January-March quarter, as against a profit of Rs 34.7 crore during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The consolidated revenues of the company and its subsidiaries also fell 46 per cent to Rs 189 crore during the quarter, from Rs 350 crore a year ago.
The company attributed the fall in its fortunes to the slump in its education business and the global economic slowdown.
"By implementing competitive strategies in each business and keeping a tight check on costs, we are improving our performance," Rajendra S Pawar, chairman of NIIT, said.
While international businesses accounted for 54 per cent of the total revenue of the company, the domestic market accounted for the remaining 46 per cent.
NIIT earned Rs 101.4 crore from its international businesses. Of this, the US accounted for 49 per cent, the Asia-Pacific region accounted for 28 per cent, while Europe accounted for the remaining 23 per cent.
The company also said that it had an order intake of $28.71 million during the quarter, representing a 60 per cent growth over the last quarter.
NIIT added 20 new customers, including ING North America Insurance, Toyota Motors and Wells Frago, during the quarter.
It also announced its decision to launch a new entity - NIIT Smartserve - to address the area of IT enabled services for global customers.
The new company would conduct courses on ITES and also operate as an ITES company, offering services to the global market.
"NIIT Smartserve would enable us to seize a pie of the $50 billion IT enabled services market, where we will leverage our ability to implement technology solutions, create and deploy skilled manpower, and maintain customer relationships," Vijay K Thadani, chief executive officer of NIIT, said.
He said, the investment and manpower intake for the new entity were yet to be decided.
NIIT has been keenly evaluating the area of ITES through a few pilot projects during the last 12 months, Thadani said, adding, a detailed plan would soon be rolled out.
The company is also considering branding its software business to give it a distinctive identity, Arvind Thakur, director and president of NIIT's software business, said.
