Press Release
Aftek's Q1 net up by 76.41% to Rs. 22.99 Crore (Net of Foreign Exchange Difference)
Financial Highlights for the first quarter ended June 2006
(The company had resolved to follow the financial year from April to March from this year onward)
Mumbai, July 31, 2006 - Aftek Infosys Limited, a prominent player in the enterprise business management products, solutions and services space, announced its results for the first quarter ended 30 th June'2006 today. Aftek has continued its impressive and consistent growth in revenues and profits.
Net sales at Rs. 76.02 Crore have registered a 32.02% growth as compared to Rs. 57.78 Crore during 4th quarter of 2004-2005. Operating profits at Rs. 28.48 Crore (Net of Foreign Exchange difference) have registered a growth of 60.44% as compared to Rs. 17.75 Crores during 4th quarter of 2004-2005. Net profits at Rs. 22.99 Crores (Net of Foreign Exchange difference) have registered a growth of 76.41% as compared to Rs. 13.03 Crores during 4th quarter of 2004-2005. The Earnings Per Share (Basic) for this quarter work out to be Rs. 4.26 on a face value of Rs. 2 per share.
Chairman, Ranjit Dhuru, said, 'Effective planning and timely execution of our Organic and Inorganic growth strategies are responsible for this good performance'.
Software Services Business:
Aftek has maintained the steady rise in its revenues from the software business (exports). This quarter, Aftek has added new, significant customers in the Telecommunications and Networking space from the USA. Aftek has also completed significant milestones with an Automobile major from Europe, thereby securing further business. Company has established relationships with other Automobile vendors mainly in the area of Car Telematics. This solid foundation would result in increased business from Europe. Successful leveraging of technology and monetization of Intellectual Properties (IPs) continues to maintain visibly high profitability.
Powersafe, Aftek's Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) management solution for enterprise infrastructure management, is giving only a stagnant revenue stream, since the business opportunity in this niche space is limited. However, this has brought much larger business opportunity in energy management space to Aftek. A detailed roadmap was communicated to the stakeholders and steady progress is being made. Further communique would be done when the designated milestones are achieved.
Aftek's Smartcard-based products for transport, banking and access control space have been a steady contributor to domestic sales revenues.
Aftek plans to complete its Software Development Centre at Hinjewadi at the earliest. The building work has commenced with an aggressive schedule. The center would accommodate over 1,800 seats keeping in view Aftek's expanding services component and integration of its inorganic centers.
Aftek's Employee Trust has purchased 85000 shares of Aftek from the secondary market this quarter. There has also been a currency gain of Rs. 13.92 Crores this quarter.
Developments in Arexera:
Aftek's 100%-owned subsidiary, Arexera, is undergoing a restructuring process so as to minimize taxes and hence maximize profits, as well as secure Intellectual Properties (IPs). After due consultation with competent agencies and authorities, it was decided to form a parent company in Switzerland to meet above mentioned objectives. Such a company with 100% Aftek ownership has now been established at Schaffhausen, Switzerland. After vesting all IPs, tax liabilities of all its subsidiaries will now be reduced significantly. Due to these changes, there has been some delay in order booking, the effect of which will be visible next quarter. With the restructuring, Arexera has also decided to address Enterprise Content Management space for its products, solutions and services. Enterprise search is only a part of this much larger space. Arexera's financial year is ends in December and results of this new initiative will be visible from next financial year.
Developments in Seekport:
Aftek's 100%-owned subsidiary, Arexera, holds 33% stake in the European Search Engine, Seekport, which is available in German, French, English (UK), Spanish as well as Italian languages. Seekport operates in both B2B and B2C business models in the search space. Sawafi is a joint-venture between Seekport and MITSCO group, a Saudi-Arabian partner. Sawafi has been formed to launch an Arabic search engine for the middle-east. Due to some delays in receiving the funding from MITSCO, the official launch of Sawafi has been delayed beyond the planned timeframe of October/November'2006.
Developments in Digihome:
Aftek provides and strongly promotes IP-based services, whereby its IPs and technological strengths are leveraged for a higher Average Revenue Per Person (ARPP). Digihome used Aftek's Jadoogar framework for developing an end-to-end solution for Intelligent Homes. Since selling, manufacturing, installing, supporting and servicing such a solution is completely outside Aftek's focus on enterprise business management and there are also significant risks associated with the consumer segment that this solution falls into, Aftek decided to license its technology to Digihome on a non-exclusive basis in-lieu of 25% stake and 5% royalty over the sales revenue from this solution. Initial deployments of this solution are taking place now and there are orders in hand from couple of builders in Pune and Bangalore.
Developments in Elven:
Aftek's depth in expertise spans from hardware design to business applications. In order to complete the depth of its expertise, Aftek always wanted to get into VLSI/ASIC space, which is all about designing the chips. Since this is an old and mature business, there are risks involved. Considering its earlier ventures into 3G and GIS space that failed, Aftek decided to minimize the risks by taking only 15% stake in Elven, instead of starting another venture on entirely on its own. As a part of risk mitigation strategy, Aftek would invest only into mature businesses and not early state ventures. Last quarter, Elven acquired Indian Operations of AMCC, Inc., USA, a NASDAQ-listed supplier of network processors. Recently, Elven also acquired C2Silicon, a privately owned company out of Bangalore in same space. Today, Elven has over 80 employees working out of its Bangalore office.
Developments in Opdex:
Aftek's 100%-owned, US subsidiary, is focused on Energy Management. This is an upcoming market from the technology perspective, where mainly mid-term and long-term opportunities exist. Due to world-wide crisis of energy, it's optimal usage and careful management has become the key and that's exactly where the business opportunist exists. Aftek is working on the development of Consumer Portal, which will act as an intelligent meter and besides measuring the electricity consumption, it will proactively manage the load on the grid in terms of Lighting, Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning based on predetermined policies and real-time conditions like load on power grid, ambient temperature, power price, etc. Aftek is again using its Jadoogar technology and also exploring possibilities of integrating it with its solution for Intelligent Homes. Aftek expects the prototype consumer portals to be ready for field-testing during summer next-year.
Development of new Intellectual Property, SEPA:
Today, most of the revenue of Search Engines comes from Sponsored Links or Advertisements or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) business model. The advertisements that appear on the search page are relevant to the context specified by search terms. Affiliates can also call for relevant advertisements based on the search terms, keywords or context specific to the content on their websites. One needs a powerful, real-time, platform for letting the advertisers and advertising agencies bid for different keywords and then extracting relevant advertisements at the time of search or surfing. SEPA is one such platform, which stands for Search Engine Performance Advertising, meaning the payment or billing is strictly related to the performance of an advertisement, which is number of clicks it receives. Aftek has already started developing this product and expects it to be ready for testing in the last quarter of this year. This white-labeled solution can be used by search engines, portals, and all such online entities for advertising.
About Aftek Infosys :
With a turnover of Rs.193.30 crore ($43.56 million) for the financial year (nine months period) ended March 2006, Aftek Infosys today has emerged as a leading Indian provider of technology enabled products and IT services to a global client base. Aftek harnesses its core competencies in embedded technology, wireless networking, Internet technology, mobile technology and high-end web technologies to provide services and comprehensive solutions in the enterprise business management domain. The company has excelled in building value-added products and end-to-end solutions for enterprise business management and applications. For information please visit www.aftek.com.
Financial Highlights for the first quarter ended June 2006
(The company had resolved to follow the financial year from April to March from this year onward)
- Revenues up by 32.02% to Rs. 76.02 Crore
- Operating profit up by 60.44% to Rs. 28.48 Crore
- Net profit up by 76.41% to Rs. 22.99 Crore (Excludes Foreign Exchange
- Difference of Rs.13.92 Crore)
- EPS (Basic) for the quarter at Rs. 4.26
- Software Exports at Rs. 71.17 Crore
- Software Products income at Rs. 4.50 Crore.
Mumbai, July 31, 2006 - Aftek Infosys Limited, a prominent player in the enterprise business management products, solutions and services space, announced its results for the first quarter ended 30 th June'2006 today. Aftek has continued its impressive and consistent growth in revenues and profits.
Net sales at Rs. 76.02 Crore have registered a 32.02% growth as compared to Rs. 57.78 Crore during 4th quarter of 2004-2005. Operating profits at Rs. 28.48 Crore (Net of Foreign Exchange difference) have registered a growth of 60.44% as compared to Rs. 17.75 Crores during 4th quarter of 2004-2005. Net profits at Rs. 22.99 Crores (Net of Foreign Exchange difference) have registered a growth of 76.41% as compared to Rs. 13.03 Crores during 4th quarter of 2004-2005. The Earnings Per Share (Basic) for this quarter work out to be Rs. 4.26 on a face value of Rs. 2 per share.
Chairman, Ranjit Dhuru, said, 'Effective planning and timely execution of our Organic and Inorganic growth strategies are responsible for this good performance'.
Software Services Business:
Aftek has maintained the steady rise in its revenues from the software business (exports). This quarter, Aftek has added new, significant customers in the Telecommunications and Networking space from the USA. Aftek has also completed significant milestones with an Automobile major from Europe, thereby securing further business. Company has established relationships with other Automobile vendors mainly in the area of Car Telematics. This solid foundation would result in increased business from Europe. Successful leveraging of technology and monetization of Intellectual Properties (IPs) continues to maintain visibly high profitability.
Powersafe, Aftek's Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) management solution for enterprise infrastructure management, is giving only a stagnant revenue stream, since the business opportunity in this niche space is limited. However, this has brought much larger business opportunity in energy management space to Aftek. A detailed roadmap was communicated to the stakeholders and steady progress is being made. Further communique would be done when the designated milestones are achieved.
Aftek's Smartcard-based products for transport, banking and access control space have been a steady contributor to domestic sales revenues.
Aftek plans to complete its Software Development Centre at Hinjewadi at the earliest. The building work has commenced with an aggressive schedule. The center would accommodate over 1,800 seats keeping in view Aftek's expanding services component and integration of its inorganic centers.
Aftek's Employee Trust has purchased 85000 shares of Aftek from the secondary market this quarter. There has also been a currency gain of Rs. 13.92 Crores this quarter.
Developments in Arexera:
Aftek's 100%-owned subsidiary, Arexera, is undergoing a restructuring process so as to minimize taxes and hence maximize profits, as well as secure Intellectual Properties (IPs). After due consultation with competent agencies and authorities, it was decided to form a parent company in Switzerland to meet above mentioned objectives. Such a company with 100% Aftek ownership has now been established at Schaffhausen, Switzerland. After vesting all IPs, tax liabilities of all its subsidiaries will now be reduced significantly. Due to these changes, there has been some delay in order booking, the effect of which will be visible next quarter. With the restructuring, Arexera has also decided to address Enterprise Content Management space for its products, solutions and services. Enterprise search is only a part of this much larger space. Arexera's financial year is ends in December and results of this new initiative will be visible from next financial year.
Developments in Seekport:
Aftek's 100%-owned subsidiary, Arexera, holds 33% stake in the European Search Engine, Seekport, which is available in German, French, English (UK), Spanish as well as Italian languages. Seekport operates in both B2B and B2C business models in the search space. Sawafi is a joint-venture between Seekport and MITSCO group, a Saudi-Arabian partner. Sawafi has been formed to launch an Arabic search engine for the middle-east. Due to some delays in receiving the funding from MITSCO, the official launch of Sawafi has been delayed beyond the planned timeframe of October/November'2006.
Developments in Digihome:
Aftek provides and strongly promotes IP-based services, whereby its IPs and technological strengths are leveraged for a higher Average Revenue Per Person (ARPP). Digihome used Aftek's Jadoogar framework for developing an end-to-end solution for Intelligent Homes. Since selling, manufacturing, installing, supporting and servicing such a solution is completely outside Aftek's focus on enterprise business management and there are also significant risks associated with the consumer segment that this solution falls into, Aftek decided to license its technology to Digihome on a non-exclusive basis in-lieu of 25% stake and 5% royalty over the sales revenue from this solution. Initial deployments of this solution are taking place now and there are orders in hand from couple of builders in Pune and Bangalore.
Developments in Elven:
Aftek's depth in expertise spans from hardware design to business applications. In order to complete the depth of its expertise, Aftek always wanted to get into VLSI/ASIC space, which is all about designing the chips. Since this is an old and mature business, there are risks involved. Considering its earlier ventures into 3G and GIS space that failed, Aftek decided to minimize the risks by taking only 15% stake in Elven, instead of starting another venture on entirely on its own. As a part of risk mitigation strategy, Aftek would invest only into mature businesses and not early state ventures. Last quarter, Elven acquired Indian Operations of AMCC, Inc., USA, a NASDAQ-listed supplier of network processors. Recently, Elven also acquired C2Silicon, a privately owned company out of Bangalore in same space. Today, Elven has over 80 employees working out of its Bangalore office.
Developments in Opdex:
Aftek's 100%-owned, US subsidiary, is focused on Energy Management. This is an upcoming market from the technology perspective, where mainly mid-term and long-term opportunities exist. Due to world-wide crisis of energy, it's optimal usage and careful management has become the key and that's exactly where the business opportunist exists. Aftek is working on the development of Consumer Portal, which will act as an intelligent meter and besides measuring the electricity consumption, it will proactively manage the load on the grid in terms of Lighting, Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning based on predetermined policies and real-time conditions like load on power grid, ambient temperature, power price, etc. Aftek is again using its Jadoogar technology and also exploring possibilities of integrating it with its solution for Intelligent Homes. Aftek expects the prototype consumer portals to be ready for field-testing during summer next-year.
Development of new Intellectual Property, SEPA:
Today, most of the revenue of Search Engines comes from Sponsored Links or Advertisements or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) business model. The advertisements that appear on the search page are relevant to the context specified by search terms. Affiliates can also call for relevant advertisements based on the search terms, keywords or context specific to the content on their websites. One needs a powerful, real-time, platform for letting the advertisers and advertising agencies bid for different keywords and then extracting relevant advertisements at the time of search or surfing. SEPA is one such platform, which stands for Search Engine Performance Advertising, meaning the payment or billing is strictly related to the performance of an advertisement, which is number of clicks it receives. Aftek has already started developing this product and expects it to be ready for testing in the last quarter of this year. This white-labeled solution can be used by search engines, portals, and all such online entities for advertising.
About Aftek Infosys :
With a turnover of Rs.193.30 crore ($43.56 million) for the financial year (nine months period) ended March 2006, Aftek Infosys today has emerged as a leading Indian provider of technology enabled products and IT services to a global client base. Aftek harnesses its core competencies in embedded technology, wireless networking, Internet technology, mobile technology and high-end web technologies to provide services and comprehensive solutions in the enterprise business management domain. The company has excelled in building value-added products and end-to-end solutions for enterprise business management and applications. For information please visit www.aftek.com.
For more information, please contact
| Mr. Promod Broota
Aftek Infosys Limited promodb@aftek.com Tel: +91-22-2445 4016 |