The Quess Corp board, which will meet today, will decide on his successor. The new CEO is most likely to be chosen from within the company as founder Ajit Isaac has groomed the leadership pipeline in house.
“There were no major differences in views between Moraje and the promoters, and the top leadership team is mostly aligned in the company’s approach to business strategy,” a source briefed on the matter told ET.
Moraje, an IIM-A alumni, had a stint of over two decades at the consulting firm McKinsey, and at Quess, he led operations. He probably might get back to consulting, the source said.
Isaac was not reachable for a comment. An email sent to Quess seeking comment, too, remained unanswered.
Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa-controlled Fairfax holds 30% in the company, while Isaac is the second largest shareholder with 23%. FIIs and MFs hold 23% and the rest is held by the public. Quess listed on the exchanges in July 2016.
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The staffing business had been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Revenues for the second quarter of FY2022 were flat at Rs 2,615 crore, while EBITDA was down 14% year on year.
“I am pleased that Team Quess has delivered strong operational results amidst a very challenging environment. Our focus on cash flow has been rewarded by strong OCF generation in the quarter. We are confident that, with our accelerated investments in technology, our group will emerge even stronger from the current pandemic. We continue to work hard towards our 20% ROE and 20% OCF CAGR targets,” Moraje had said while announcing the results.
In a report, ICICI Securities said, this translated into muted sequential performance on headcount, revenue and margins. Salary hikes and seasonality in some businesses were the other factors that dragged down profitability. Despite green shoots of a pick-up in hiring activity, management sounded more cautious on near-term outlook.
