Persistent Systems clocks 50 pc revenue growth

Pune, Jul 12: Persistent Systems Private Limited, a leader in outsourced software product development, registered net profit of Rs 41 crore as compared to Rs 37 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, an increase of over 50 per cent. Persistent Systems Chairman and Managing Director Dr Anand Deshpande said that the company's turnover for the financial year 2005-06 was Rs 216 crore as compared to Rs 147 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year. Persistent's CAGR is 60 per cent for the last three years. It has added 39 new customers in fiscal year 2005-06.

Sharing the company's vision, Dr Deshpande said ''The market for outsourced product development is evolving rapidly. It has been accepted that it is a specialised activity and Persistent Systems is a leader in this important market category.

''We have been closely following the market trends for outsourcing and we are very excited at the prospects. Software companies are growing and are considering outsourcing as a strategic requirement. Cost is no longer the only consideration. Speed to market, workforce flexibility and domain expertise are the drivers for the industry.'' Taking these trends into account, the company last year had opted for ''expansion stage'' investments from leading venture capitalists like Intel Capital, Gabriel Venture Partners and Norwest Venture Partners.

Last November, Persistent acquired Goa-based ControlNet India, thereby extending its product development expertise into embedded systems and ASIC design, he informed.

Dr Deshpande added: ''Last year, Persistent initiated strategies that aligned with the industry dynamics and set up the stage for an intense traction in our ecosystem. Our focus is to consolidate and grow this business and to continue to be a leader in outsourced product development. This led us to pursue technology escalations, business focus segmentation, investments, acquisition, enhancements in service offerings and infrastructure augmentation.

We also got another 600 people on board, taking our employee strength to 2250 in FY 05-06''.

Having got the growth ingredients right last year, Persistent Systems is poised for bigger things from here on. To sustain its present growth run, the company has emphasided an increased focus on four major verticals such as telecom, infrastructure ISV, application ISV and tools.

UNI