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Sonata Software to pay 30 pc

BANGALORE: Sonata Software and Sonata Information Technology net profit stood at Rs 34.49 crore (Rs 23.39 crore last year). Net profits for SIT was Rs 1.16 crore and Rs 33.33 crore for Sonata Software.

(Sonata hived off Sonata Information, handling the Indian operations as a separate company in June 2000).

Interest has gone down from Rs 41 lakh to Rs 29.7 lakh while depreciation has gone up from Rs 3.27 crore to Rs 3.67 crore and provision for taxation went down from Rs 1.81 crore to Rs 1.55 crore.

The board of Sonata Software has recommended a dividend of 30 per cent for the year ended March 31 2001. With this the total dividend goes up to 50 per cent.

The company has recorded a growth in revenues of 30 percent.

SITL recorded revenues of Rs 100.64 for the year, while Sonata recorded Rs 128.9 crore (including Rs 18.3 crore from Indian operations before June 2000).

To cope with the US slowdown ``which has affected IT budgets of customers in varying degrees'', the President and Managing Director, Mr B. Ramaswamy, said that the company had focussed on the healthcare sector in the US as well as increased the investmen t in marketing in Europe.

The company invested $ 2 million from its own surplus in December 2000 to acquire a 26 per cent stake in SpinAway eBusiness Solutions Inc of California. This investment is expected to help Sonata leverage the marketing strength of the US company. The com pany expects the benefits to start in the coming financial year.

The other strategic decision was the preferential allotment of shares at Rs 53.40 each to Franklin Templeton, a global mutual fund giant. Franklin Templeton now holds 4.9 percent in Sonata. This has brought in Rs 27.5 crore to the company and the associa tion itself is expected to benefit the company. -- Our Bureau