MAHINDRA BRITISH TELECOM Getting Less British

ence on BT slowed
growth but also cut risk, and it picked up some ecom work.

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Mahindra British Telecom (MBT)
registered a growth rate of mere 37% in the last fiscal as compared to 73% in
1998-99. It clocked Rs 237 crore as against Rs 173 crore the previous year.
Exports contributed Rs 235 crore–a growth of 37% over the previous year’s Rs
173 crore–thus garnering 99% of the total turnover. The net profit of the
company also grew by only 16% to touch Rs 63.03 crore, as compared to Rs 54.56
crore in 1998-99.

MBT
focussed on telecom as a niche area. It grew on the telecom software front that
contributed 98.5% of its total revenue. The slowdown in the performance of the
company can be attributed to its concentration towards external customers rather
than on British Telecom (BT), which has been its main source of strength.

The
company had a steady mix of onsite-offshore projects with about 60% of its
exports revenue coming from onsite development and the rest from offshore ones.
It was not able to leverage on the strides that it made in the US market which
continued to contribute only about 12%
to the company’s revenues. Europe was its most favored destination, with
around 86% contribution.

MBT bagged significant projects on the
ecommerce front and 15% of its revenue accrued from this domain. Y2K or post-Y2K
projects still contributed 5% to its revenue. Migration and porting constituted
the largest chunk at 40%. On the delivery side, while projects contributed 60%,
the rest was equally divided between consulting and support.

For future, MBT has budgeted an outlay of Rs 256 crore
for capital expenditure. It plans to increase the business from the UK and
Europe to £150 million. It also plans to increase its business from North
America to $75 million. DQ

Fact Sheet

START-UP YEAR: 1988 l PRODUCTS AND SERVICES: Software
development, consultancy TECHNICAL COLLABORATION: British Telecommunications Plc
EMPLOYEES: 2,074 BRANCH OFFICES: 14 ADDRESS: 148, Mumbai-Pune Road, Pimpri, Pune
411 018 TEL: 747 4740, 4760 FAX: 747 5048 WEBSITE: www.mahindrabt.com