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Shares of Persistent Systems rose more than 5 percent in intraday trade on Thursday, a day after the IT firm posted a strong quarterly performance for the January to March 2022 period, beating Street estimates.

At 1:50 pm, the tech company’s stock was trading at Rs 4,267.15, up 4.67 percent from its previous close, on the National Stock Exchange.

Persistent Systems’ on Wednesday reported a 45.9 percent year-on-year growth in profit after tax to Rs 200.90 crore during the March quarter.

“Our ability to identify emerging industry and technology trends and deliver value to clients through our expertise has given us a significant competitive advantage in the market. We are grateful to our clients, partners, employees, and other stakeholders for their continued trust in our team and ongoing collaboration,” Persistent Systems CEO and executive director Sandeep Kalra said in a statement.

Going forward, the firm expects to achieve 20-25 percent growth in FY23 if the momentum continues, he told CNBC-TV18. It looks to double revenue in the next 3-4 years, he added.

The company's margin was unchanged on year basis at 14 percent and is expected to remain similar this fiscal as well, the firm said.

At a time when the attrition rate is very high, especially in IT companies, Persistent Systems has made offers to 3,800 freshers and expects over 3,000 to join in two quarters, Kalra said.

Though the Persistent Systems stock has inched marginally higher in the past few days in the run-up to Q4 earnings, over the past month it erased nearly 12 percent of investors’ wealth.

Earlier in March, global brokerage firm Nomura had said the Persistent Systems was its top midcap IT pick but cut the target price to Rs 5,530 from Rs 5,440 per share.

Meanwhile Mphasis, another stock of the midcap IT pack, declined almost 2 percent ahead of the company's quarterly earnings report due later today.

At 1:50 pm, Mphasis shares were trading half a percent lower at Rs 2,782.60 on NSE.

A CNBC-TV18 poll of analysts have predicted the company to report profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 390 crore, up 9.1 percent from the previous quarter. Revenue is likely to grow 4 percent sequentially to Rs 3,250 crore.

First Published:Apr 28, 2022 12:20 PM IST