Software services group Mastek said on Monday its fourth quarter net profit dropped over 85 per cent from a year earlier, with margins under significant pressure, and painted a gloomy picture for the current year. The group, which includes the said net profit for the April-June quarter fell to Rs 3 crore from Rs 20.4 crore a year earlier. The total income rose a marginal 2.2 per cent to Rs 92.1 crore.‘‘We saw a significant increase in the order flow this quarter . we have seen a sustained margin pressure on the new deals,’’ chairman Ashank Desai said. The company expects the outsourcing trend to India to gain momentum in the current year and will continue to spend on sales and marketing to tap such deals, he said. ‘‘The market place is very challenging in terms of pricing pressure and on top of it we are investing in sales and marketing and we will also be hiring more people this year, so that will have an impact on profits,’’ he said. Mastek will hire 1,200 people in the current year, he said.
