stockaxis

HCL Technologies Ltd

Quarterly Result - Q2FY25

HCL Technologies Ltd

IT - Software Services

Current

CMP
Rs. 1871.60
Rating:
Hold
October 14, 2024

Previous

Rating:
Hold

Stock Info

BSE
532281
NSE
HCLTECH
Bloomberg
HCLT:IN
Reuters
HCLT.NS
Sector
IT - Software Services
Face Value (Rs)
2
Equity Capital (Rs cr)
543
Mkt Cap (Rs cr)
505976.43
52w H/L (Rs)
1852.80 - 1212.05
Avg Daily Vol (BSE+NSE)
1,581,755

Shareholding Pattern

(as on 30-Sep)
%
Promoter
60.82
FIIs
18.45
DIIs
15.77
Public & Others
4.95
Source: Ace equity, stockaxis Research

Price performance

Return (%)
1m
3m
12m
Absolute
2.48
18.28
46.10
Sensex
-1.22
1.62
23.89
Source: Ace equity, stockaxis Research

Indexed Stock Performance

HCL Technologies Ltd Sensex
HCL Technologies Ltd
Source: Ace equity, stockaxis Research

Financial Highlights:

Particulars (Rs. in cr) Q2FY25 Q2FY24 YoY (%) Q1FY25 QoQ (%)
Revenue from operations 28862.00 26672.00 8.00% 28057.00 3.00%
EBITDA 6369.00 5929.00 7.00% 5793.00 10.00%
EBITDA Margin 22.07% 22.23% (16 bps ) 20.65% 142 bps
EBIT 5362.00 4919.00 9.00% 4795.00 12.00%
PAT 4237.00 3833.00 11.00% 4259.00 -1.00%
EPS (Rs) 15.62 14.15 10.00% 15.70 -1.00%

Source: Company Filings; stockaxis Research

Q2FY25 Result Highlights
HCL Technologies delivered a beat across all its key parameters driven by broad based growth across segments, verticals, and geographies. HCL Technologies (HCL Tech) reported revenue of $3,445 million, up 1.6% QoQ/6.2% YoY in constant currency (CC) terms driven by IT Services (+1.8% CC QoQ) followed by P&P (+1.4% CC QoQ) and ER&D (+1.1% CC QoQ). Revenue in rupee terms stood at Rs.28,862 crore, up 2.9% QoQ/8.2% YoY. Revenue growth was led by service revenue, up 1.6% QoQ despite the impact of State Street divesture, while Software revenue grew 1.4% QoQ in CC terms. EBIT margin expanded by 150 bps QoQ to 18.6% led by P&P business (+54bp), improved IT services margin from operating leverage and lower marketing expense (+110bp), and positive exchange impact of 20bp. All verticals, excluding BFSI and Telecom, reported more than 3% QoQ growth. PAT exceeded expectations and grew by 11% YoY to Rs.4237 cr on the back of better-than-expected operational performance while on a sequential basis, it stood flat.

Booking performance: HCL Tech signed 20 deals during Q2FY25, 12 in Services, and 8 in Software with a good mix of small and large deals. New deal wins TCVs stood at $2,218 million, up 13% QoQ/down 44%, in line with expectations but slightly lower than the eight-quarter average.

Vertical-wise performance: Retail and CPG, Life Sciences, and Healthcare, Technology and Services, Manufacturing, Public Services, and Telecommunications grew 4.6%, 3.1%, 3.2%, 2.9%, 3.5%, and 1.6% QoQ, respectively, while Financial Services was flat due to the impact of the planned divestment in the quarter; without divestment impact, it grew 4% QoQ.

Geography-wise performance: Americas, Europe, and ROW grew by 1%, 4.3%, and 9.1% QoQ, respectively.

Client metrics: The company added four clients in the $50 million+ and $20 million+ categories on a QoQ basis but lost five and two clients in the $10 million+ and 5 million+ categories, respectively. Revenue from the Top-5, Top-10, and Top-20 clients increased by 8.7%, 5%, and 4.8% QoQ, respectively.

Strong cash flows: Operating Cash Flow (OCF) and FCF stood at $2,512 and $2,388 million, respectively, with FCF/NI at 119%. Net cash balance stood at $3,166 million, up 23% YoY.

Key Conference call takeaways

  • Growth: Q2 has been a strong quarter and broad-based growth. Business momentum is starting to pick up. Revenue grew 1.6% in CC despite headwinds from divestment in joint venture. Services revenue came in at USD3114mn, +1.8% QoQ. Reported highest ever YoY growth. Software business grew 1.4% CC QoQ and it continues to progress with ARR at USD1.05bn, up 0.6% CC YoY. This growth was led by the implementation of some of the deals signed in previous quarters and some of the contributions from SAP-related initial implementation. Dollar Revenue grew by 2.4% QoQ and up 7% YoY to $3445 million.
  • The Financial Services vertical grew from strength to strength, which helped deliver better than expected.
  • In manufacturing, seeing some pressure in Aerospace and Automotive client, which is offset by growth in SAP related work.
  • Seeing pressure in Automotive in Europe. This is reflected in Q2 numbers, and some are likely to be reflected in Q3 as well.
  • Deal wins: TCV (New deal wins) came in at USD2,218mn. Won 20 deals with services comprising 12 deals and eight in products. The pipeline continues to grow and is well distributed across vertical and geo. SAP is emerging to be a strong area of growth.
  • Gen AI: Gen AI platform AI Force is getting traction. GenAI is small but we see good growth. Already implemented at least one of the modules of AI Force for 20 clients.
  • Acquisition: HCLT acquired Zeenea SAS during the quarter and it will enable HCL Tech software to help clients in Gen AI-related implementation.
  • Employee: Headcount was down by 780 QoQ. Added 12k freshers in FY24. Headcount has reduced while the wage bill has increased as HCL Tech is focused on skill-based hiring rather than just focusing on headcount addition. LTM Attrition at 12.9%*, (down from 14.2% in Q2 of last year). Expects furlough in Q3FY25 to be similar to last year.
  • While HCL Tech sees an improving demand environment, it still faces macro, and geopolitical concerns and volatility in discretionary spending. Currently, it is doing low single digit to mid-single growth in software with the intention to take it to mid-single digit growth in the medium term.
  • FY25 Guidance: The Company Revenue growth is expected to be between 3.5% - 5.0% YoY in CC. Services Revenue growth is expected to be between 3.5% - 5.0% YoY in CC. EBIT margin to be between 18.0% – 19.0%. HCL Tech upgraded the lower end of its FY25 revenue growth guidance to 3.5%–5% from 3–5% CC YoY earlier – at both IT Services and consolidated levels.
  • Management expects a wage hike impact of 65-80 bps in Q3 and an incremental further impact of another 50-60 bps in Q4. Wage hikes for Indian employees are expected to be around 7% on average. Top performers are likely to get double-digit increases of 12-15%.

Outlook & valuation

HCL Tech delivered a beat across all its key metrics driven by broad-based growth across segments, verticals, and geographies. Post the strong performance, the company raised the lower band of its guidance for FY25 by 50 bps from 3%-5% to 3.5%-5%. All the company’s verticals experienced quarterly growth, except for financial services, which was affected by the planned divestment during the quarter. Excluding the divestment impact, financial services witnessed low single-digit revenue growth. Bookings remain robust, and despite that, the pipeline continues to be at record high levels, driven by data, AI, digital engineering, cost optimization, and SAP migration services. Commentary suggested signs of improvement in the demand environment across multiple verticals driven by ramp up of efficiency-led deals, opportunities seen in application modernization, and a slight uptick in discretionary spending.

HCL Tech further reiterated its four new offerings in the GenAI space, AI & GenAI engineering which will focus on the semiconductor business, AI Force will help in creating efficiency in the IT software service gamut and AI Foundry which will enable modernizing the data AI stack by partnering with companies. Additionally, it is also setting up a factory with SAP to help its customers in cloud operation and migration. The company in its medium term, aspires to grow at a double digit. The demand environment is seeing a reversal in trend, with the TMT vertical seeing increased discretionary spending, BFS seeing some uptick in demand, and the rest of the verticals being driven by cost optimization deals.

We believe the company is well placed to maintain growth leadership given its diversified offerings across IT services and ER&D segment coupled with strong execution and supported by improvement in the demand environment. The company is poised for steady growth in the medium to long term. At CMP of Rs.1870, the stock is trading at 26x FY26E. We maintain a HOLD rating on the stock.

Consolidated Financial statements

Profit & Loss statement

Particulars (Rs. in cr) Q2FY25 Q2FY24 YoY (%) Q1FY25 QoQ (%)
Revenue from operations 28862.00 26672.00 8.00% 28057.00 3.00%
Purchase of stock-in-trade 480.00 377.00 27.00% 404.00 19.00%
Change in inventories -14.00 25.00 -156.00% 25.00 -156.00%
Employee benefits expense 16523.00 15253.00 8.00% 16410.00 1.00%
Other expenses 5504.00 5088.00 8.00% 5425.00 1.00%
EBITDA 6369.00 5929.00 7.00% 5793.00 10.00%
EBITDA Margin 22.07% 22.23% (16 bps ) 20.65% 142 bps
Depreciation & Amortization 1007.00 1010.00 0.00% 998.00 1.00%
EBIT 5362.00 4919.00 9.00% 4795.00 12.00%
EBIT Margin 18.58% 18.44% 14 bps 17.09% 149 bps
Other Income 456.00 365.00 25.00% 1103.00 -59.00%
Finance costs 131.00 156.00 -16.00% 191.00 -31.00%
PBT 5687.00 5128.00 11.00% 5707.00 0.00%
Tax expenses 1450.00 1295.00 12.00% 1448.00 0.00%
PAT 4237.00 3833.00 11.00% 4259.00 -1.00%
EPS (Rs) 15.62 14.15 10.00% 15.70 -1.00%