Matrikon buys out Indian joint venture company

Industrial software supplier and OPC specialist Matrikon has announced the purchased of the remaining 51 percent of Matrikon-SoftDEL India from joint venture partner SoftDEL Systems. The company, currently with some 30 full time staff, will be operating as Matrikon India going forward.

“We initiated this joint venture in July 2008, at the peak of the resource markets,” stated Ian Brown, Matrikon’s vice president of Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA). “Due to the changing global economic situation since then, we have not been able to expand the operation as we originally intended, by providing access to qualified engineers in the event of labor shortages outside of India.

“Where we have succeeded is in leveraging the talented resources in India to supplement our global research and development teams. We anticipate that the economy will recover over the next year, and as it does, Matrikon India will be prepared to meet our global resourcing needs.”

“Moving forward, Matrikon India will continue to expedite our R&D efforts while building the skill set to support our growth in the Middle East, where we anticipate growing demand for our products and services,” Brown explained.

Anand Vishnubhotla, a Matrikon employee of over 11 years, has been managing the operation since the joint venture was formed and will continue as general manager. Organizationally, Matrikon India will be integrated into the EMEA business.

Matrikon has also just reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended August 31, 2009. For FY09, Matrikon posted revenue of CAN$73.24 million, a decrease of eight percent from FY08; net income decreased to $2.31 million from $9.10 million; and earnings per share for FY09 were $0.07, decreasing from $0.30 per share in FY08.

Matrikon’s president & CEO Nizar Somji commented, “Our fiscal year 2009 results are reflective of a delayed reaction to the global economic downturn, which affected us particularly in Q3 09. The economic slowdown caused our sales cycle to lengthen as many of our clients required additional time and due diligence to obtain approval for contracts.

“After a disappointing third quarter, sales activity started to pick up late in the fourth quarter, particularly in oil & gas and mining. Late in the fourth quarter, we had a record project win for cyber security in the power and utilities industry. We anticipate even more opportunities in this industry given the timeline for compliance and Matrikon’s expertise in this area.”