HCL Technologies (HCLTech), on Thursday, reported a consolidated net profit of ₹3,832 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, up 9.83 per cent year on year (YoY) as against ₹3,489 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Consolidated revenue of the company also rose by eight per cent YoY to ₹26,672 crore (₹24,686 crore) for the period in review.
The company won a total of 971 clients in the quarter (vs 890 last year), including 20 clients in $100 million+, 49 clients in $50 million+ and 132 clients in $20 million+, HCLTech said.
Sequential growth
“Our revenue growth of one per cent on quarter on quarter (QoQ) and 3.4 per cent YoY on a constant currency basis, with a 154-bp QoQ improvement in operating margin and improving cashflows, reflect our ability to execute well in an evolving business environment and our commitment to operational efficiency,” C Vijayakumar, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, HCLTech, said.
He said the new bookings of $4 billion this quarter is at an all-time high, driven by a standout mega deal. “This achievement underscores our ability to seize exceptional opportunities in the market and gives us optimism for our medium-term growth prospects.”
However, revising the growth target for this year, he said that organic revenue growth is expected to be between four and five per cent YoY in constant currency (CC) terms.
“For Services, organic revenue growth is expected to be between 4.5 and 5.5 per cent YoY in CC… The company’s revenue growth including ASAP acquisition is expected to be between five and six per cent YoY in CC. EBIT margin expected to be between 18 and 19 per cent,” he added.
On asked about any impact in its operations in Israel due to the current situation, Vijayakumar said there’s no business impact in Israel. HCLTech has around 100 employees there.
Declining headcount
In terms of headcounts, the company reported a decline in its net headcount addition by 2,299 in the second quarter. Addition of freshers for the quarter stood at 3,630 people, up from last quarter’s 1,597. The company said it was focussing on improving utilisation rates to maintain operating margin guidance amidst a tough business environment. Total headcount stood at 2,21,139 as of September 30.
This is the second consecutive quarter of headcount decline for HCLTech. Asked about new hirings for this fiscal, the company said it will be hiring a total of 10,000 freshers in the current financial year.
“We will be going with pay revision from October onwards. Mid and senior management won’t take pay hikes in FY24. Ninety per cent of the workforce will be eligible for pay hike revision. Fresher hiring target is of 10,000 for FY24 and we will continue to go for campus placements,” Ramachandran Sundararajan, Chief People Officer, HCLTech, said.
Shares of HCLTech closed at ₹1,224.05 apiece on the BSE on Thursday, down 1.74 per cent from the previous close.
