Persistent reports muted set of numbers, stock plummets

Persistent Systems reported mute numbers for the quarter ending September 2018, on Sunday.

The company’s revenue for the quarter remained flat at Rs. 835.5 crore as compared to Rs. 834.2 crore in the preceding quarter. Revenue mix by segment, services (43 per cent of total revenue), digital (22 per cent), alliance (29.5 per cent) and Accelerite (5.5 per cent).

EBITDA for the period also remained largely flat at Rs. 143.6 crore, 2.6 per cent QoQ growth. While EBITDA margin stood at 17.2 per cent as against 16.8 per cent in the preceding quarter.

Persistent’s net profit in Q2FY19 too remained flat at Rs. 88.1 crore registering a mere ~1 per cent growth from the preceding quarter.

Attrition level for Q2FY19 stood at 15.4 per cent as compared to 14.8 per cent in Q1FY19. Average utilisation for the quarter stood at 82.4 per cent.

With this muted set of numbers, Persistent disappointed investor estimates and the stock fell almost 18 per cent to touch a 52-week low of Rs. 540 apiece. At 11.54 hours, the stock was trading at Rs. 551 apiece, down by almost 17 per cent from the previous close.