Geometric Software Solutions witnessed a sharp fall on opening on Wednesday but recouped some of those losses later.

The scrip of the engineering software solutions provider, as a consequence, were lower by 2.8% to Rs 398.10 on BSE barely minutes after hitting a low of Rs 375 (down 8.5%) earlier. Geometric Software Solutions clocked high volumes of 260,000 shares so far on BSE.

Over the last few months, GSS has stayed within a Rs 410-500 range. However, the stock broke the lower end of that band after the disappointing FY 2003-04 earnings guidance declared by IT bellwether Infosys Technologies (on 10 April 2003). In fact, the scrip tumbled to a mere Rs 384.75 on that day. Volatility emerged in the stock thereafter, as it moved in the Rs 386-448 range. The stock usually invites a lot of operator interest.

GSS unveiled its Q4 results after trading hours on Tuesday and the results came in line with expectations. GSS posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 4.80 crore, a growth of 28% over the Rs 3.75-crore net profit made during Q4 March 2002. The net profit was within the expected range of Rs 4-5.50 crore according to a capitalmarket.com poll.

Revenues went up 25% to Rs 23.43 crore in Q4 compared to Rs 18.66 crore in the previous Q4. Revenues also proved in the expected range of Rs 23.25 crore to Rs 23.9 crore. Product revenues showed an 8.93% increase (Rs 2.65 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2002 compared to Rs 2.44 crore for the corresponding period last year.)

For FY 2002-03, GSS posted a net profit of Rs 17.05 crore compared to Rs 12.85 crore for FY 2001-02. Total revenue increased from Rs 66.28 crore in FY 2001-02 to Rs 87.71 crore in FY 2002-03.

Commenting on the results, Manu Parpia, Managing Director, Geometric said, "The financial results reflect the steady progress we have made in building a sustainable scalable business and represent a sound foundation for future growth. I believe we have an excellent strategy in place which will serve us well in the coming years."

Highlights for the quarter include the delivery of a large software development project for the design and manufacture of orthodontic appliances, the beginning of a relationship with HP Consulting, enhancing engagement with IBM, continuation of the relationship with Ford, consolidation of the relationships with Argographics in Japan, beginning of a new relationship with Gold Partners of both Dassault Systemes and SolidWorks.

The company added 15 new customers in the quarter, including five industrial customers

Geometric Software operates in niche technologies in the $6-billion CAD/CAM/CEA market, which is growing at about 11-12% annually. The major user industries of CAD/CAM/CEA are automobiles, aerospace, heavy equipment and electronics. The company offers expertise in solid and surface modeling, feature recognition, data exchange, ACIS, Parasolid and DesignBase kernels, PDM, nesting and machining.

The company carried out a restructuring of its operations last year, which consisted of constituting three strategic business units viz. Geometry, Information Management and Collaborative Engineering