Management at NetSol Technologies Inc. remains confident that the software developer for the vehicle and equipment leasing markets will reach a goal of double-digit growth this year. Speaking to analysts and investors on May 14 to announce the Calabasas company’s fiscal third quarter results, Chief Executive Najeeb Ghauri was upbeat about its financial performance going forward. “No company in the asset leasing and finance space is more well equipped than NetSol to take advantage of the disruptive technologies that have the power to transform ownership models as we know them with the best delivery and development capabilities in our industry,” Ghauri said. For the quarter ending March 31, NetSol reported net income of $1.8 million (11 cents a share) as compared to net income of $4.9 million (25 cents) in the same period a year earlier. Revenue was nearly flat at $17.1 million. The share price closed at $6.02 on May 22. It has gone up by 5 percent since the start of the year through May 20. During the quarter, the company implemented its wholesale and retail software suite NFS Ascent in China; launched a new corporate website; named Hui Liang president of its Chinese operations; launched its OTOZ Innovation Lab; and announced it was taking a minority stake in Drivemate, a car-sharing platform in Thailand. In the conference call, Ghauri called the roll out of Ascent in China one of the most significant events in the history of NetSol because the country represents the largest leasing market in the Asian Pacific region. “China, in particular, has proven to be incredibly difficult to tackle for many of our competitors,” Najeeb Ghauri said. “Beyond the need for the highly technical and domain-specific skill set, accomplishing an undertaking of this size and scope also requires a significant amount of dedication and sacrifice from countless members of our team worldwide.” Michael David Vermut, a founder of New York hedge fund Newland Capital Management, asked in the call about the competitive landscape and the bidding process. Naeem Ghauri, president of global sales and co-founder of NetSol, responded that competition comes primarily from Europe plus one company in New Zealand. When it comes to bidding for clients, for every 10 deals the company signs, it loses one, Naeem Ghauri said. The company has deals coming in the $35 million to $40 million range, he added. “So that kind of more than compensates for one large one,” Naeem Ghauri said. “We prefer these deals in terms of size because their sales cycles are shorter, and also we’re able to distribute our resources in a much more efficient way.”
