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
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.
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% |