Accentia recommends 20% dividend

Health care Receivables Cycle Management (HRCM) major Accentia Technologies Ltd has recommended a final dividend of 20 per cent on the face value of its Rs 10 shares for the financial year 2008-2009.

An Accentia spokesperson said this is despite the fact that owing to the current global recession, BPO and KPO companies are facing challenges leading to extreme measures including large scale pink slips and other cost cutting steps.

Pradeep Viswambharan, CEO of Accentia Technologies, added that the recession in the US economy, on which we too depend for our major contracts, has had little effect on our volume growth in fiscal 2008-09. In fact, our performance in 2008-09 in comparison to the previous year shows that there is room for hope even in the face of adversity”.

The net sales had grown to Rs 804.6 million and net profit to Rs 245.5 million respectively, as against the 2007-08 figures of Rs 519 million and Rs 148.6 million respectively.

Accentia Technologies, over the past two years, has recorded growth in its operations, he added. From just two production centers in 2008, the company currently boasts of as many as 17 production units spread across India and abroad. Accentia currently operates from Bangalore, New Jersey, Portland (Oregon), Ft Lauderdale (Florida), UAE, Trivandrum, Cochin, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Bhubaneshwar.

Berggruen Holdings, a $ 3-billion fund has bought 14 per cent stake in Accentia, making it possible for the HRCM leader to go ahead with its acquisition and expansion plans. Accentia plans to increase its global employee base by 60 per cent in the current fiscal to execute the orders in hand. Accentia has initiated an organization-wide process and cost restructuring to increase the profitability even in the present challenging market conditions and it is showing positive results.