Quick Heal share zooms 20% after net profit rises multifold in Q4

Share of Quick Heal Technologies rose nearly 20 per cent to hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 227.45 on BSE after the company reported a multifold growth in net profit to Rs 39.7 crore for the quarter ended March 31. Profit in the year-ago period stood at Rs 7.9 crore.

The stock opened 9.7 per cent higher at Rs 208.20 against the previous close of Rs 189.55. The stock has gained 97 per cent in one year and risen 24 per cent since the beginning of this year. The share stands higher than 5 day, 10 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day, and 200 day moving averages. Market cap of the firm rose to Rs 1,371.48 crore.

Revenue from operations rose 64 per cent to Rs 105 crore in the last quarter against Rs 64 crore a year ago. Retail segment revenue stood at Rs 299 crore compared to Rs 242 crore in FY20.

For FY21, revenue from operations grew 16 per cent to Rs 333 crore from Rs 286 crore in the previous year.

"We are delighted to conclude FY21 on a high note...Our ongoing investments in building newer capabilities and strengthening of the leadership team position us well to launch next-generation solutions and build a solid foundation for the enterprise business," said Kailash Katkar, Managing Director and CEO, Quick Heal Technologies

"However, the new wave of the pandemic has once again presented a challenging operating environment with lockdown imposed in multiple states. As vaccination picks up momentum, we are hopeful that the situation will improve in due course of time," he added.

"During the last quarter, we announced buyback of equity shares, which also fits with our robust capital allocation policy and should be EPS (Earnings per share) accretive," said Nitin Kulkarni, CFO, Quick Heal Technologies.

He further added that the company's balance sheet remains strong with zero debt and cash and cash equivalents of around Rs 4,809 million.

Quick Heal Technologies has also announced a buyback of about 63,26,530 equity shares for up to Rs 155 crore at Rs 245 per equity share.