Sify makes bumper profit boosted by sale in JV; Q2 revenues up 13% to Rs 205.9Cr

NASDAQ-listed Indian internet and IT firm Sify Technologies Ltd reported Rs 61.2 crore as net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, boosted by a one-time gain of Rs 65.8 crore out of selling its stake in the JV firm MF Global Sify Securities India Pvt Ltd. The firm had reported net loss of Rs 8.9 crore during the same period last fiscal.

Without this item, the net loss for the quarter would have been Rs 4.5 crore.

The managed enterprise, network and IT services firm reported revenues of Rs 205.9 crore for the quarter against revenues of Rs 181.5 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year, posting a growth of 13 per cent.

EBITDA for the quarter increased to Rs 16.1 crore, compared to Rs 13.6 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The company engaged in Capex worth Rs 133.8 crore during the quarter and the cash balance at the end of the quarter was Rs 90.7 crore.

Sify chairman Raju Vegesna said, "We have come through a challenging phase in our growth and I am happy to state that our focused approach is generating measurable results. At the beginning of the financial year, I had shared my vision to turn Sify into a services and solutions leader. Our strong showing across all major business lines is a positive indicator of the direction we are moving in. We will continue in our endeavour to become a prominent solutions expert, catering to large and emerging enterprises, SMBs and the government services."

Sify at a glance

Network services

• Network services continue to see an increase in growth rate in its core data business.
• Revenue is up 17 per cent over the same quarter last year and 4 per cent over the last quarter.
• Network now covers 970 cities pan-India with more than 1,795 base stations.

IT services

• Overall, IT services have grown 16 per cent over the same period last year.
• The hosting business has won contracts from Indian software, telecom and banking majors.
• Its cloud hosting platform chalked up multiple multi-year wins from Media, FMCG and Telecom companies.

Software services

• Overall, software services registered a growth of 22 per cent over the prior quarter, led by enterprise applications services, which grew over 40 per cent with wins across a number of industries.
• Over the last 12 months, as per comScore, Sify.com grew 34 per cent YoY. New channels launched included Sify Skills and Sify Gold & Silver Line, along with a Facebook application called Sify Social Reader.

CEO Kamal Nath said, "Vertical solutions and cloud-based services model will be the two key propositions for the market. Our future growth will be primarily led by leveraging our cloud services model around both infrastructure and applications and with increased focus around integration and managed services offerings."

Sify CFO MP Vijay Kumar said, "Our investments in infrastructure over the past years have given us a strong base as a solutions and services provider. Many of these investments should start generating significant revenue over the coming quarters as these are in an advance stage of commissioning."

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)

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