ITI reports 12.9 times growth in Q3 net profit

ITI Limited on Monday declared 12.9 times growth in net profit at Rs 168 crore for the third quarter ended December 2019 compared with Rs 13 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The company’s turnover stood at Rs 979 crore during the quarter, a growth of 54% over the same quarter last year, when it reported a turnover of Rs 636 crore.

“These results put the company’s net worth in the positive side after 16 years. We are no longer a sick company as we are making profits,” said Rakesh Agrawal, CMD, ITI.

The company is also planning to go for an FPO (Follow on Public Offer) with about 18 crore shares to raise funds soon and is in talks with regulators and investors, he said.

While the CMD declined to comment on how much the company is looking to raise through the FPO, analysts tracking the sector expect it to be in the range of Rs 1,600 crore. After posting a loss of Rs 61.04 crore in the first quarter, the telecom equipment firm had recorded a profit of Rs 7.19 crore in Q2 of the current fiscal.

“In the past few quarters, we have managed to diversify in multiple areas. We are focusing on strategic areas to maintain steady growth. With a focus on project implementation, manufacturing and marketing, We have achieved this breakthrough. We have a sound order book and hope to continue on this path,” he said.

ITI has set up a functional data centre, and has earmarked 100 acres land in Bengaluru to set up a manufacturing hub. The company has also set up a startup hub. “We hope to leverage new-age technologies like 5G and Artificial intelligence to drive growth in the coming quarters,” Agrawal said.

The company sources said that ITI is set to achieve mini Ratna status soon, with the last couple of quarters showing profits. “We are slowly moving towards meeting the criterion of becoming a mini Ratna and hope to reach that soon,” they said.

In a filing to the exchanges, it said that it has appointed Rajeev Srivastava as the Chief Financial Officer.