HCL Technologies reports flat YoY growth in net profit for Q4, revenue rises 7%
Its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal was Rs 3,986 crore compared with Rs 3,983 crore in FY23.
India's third-largest IT firm HCL Technologies on Friday posted a flat year-on-year growth in net profit for the March quarter.
However, the company reported an 8.4% decline in net profit sequentially as employee cost rose amid tightening IT spends around the world.
Its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal was Rs 3,986 crore compared with Rs 3,983 crore in FY23.
Sequentially, the net profit declined 8.4% from Rs 4,350 crore in the October-December period, according to the company's filing and statement.
Pre-tax profit (EBIT) of Rs 5,018 crore was down 10.6% quarter-on-quarter but up 3.8% as compared with the previous year.
The company gave a guidance of 3-5% growth in revenue in constant currency terms for FY25 and an EBIT margin of 18-19%.
EBIT margin (per-tax profit as a percentage of revenue) declined to 17.6% in the January-March period from 19.8% in the previous quarter and 18.1% a year ago.
Employee cost rose 11.5% during the quarter while the attrition rate at 12.4% was lower than 19.5% in the fourth quarter of last year.
For the March quarter, HCLTech's revenue from operations stood at Rs 28,499 crore, a 7.11% rise from Rs 26,606 crore last year.
For the entire FY24, HCL Tech reported a 5.73% rise in net profit to Rs 15,702 crore.
The revenue during FY24 was marked at Rs 109,913 crore, up 8.33% over the previous fiscal.
"...we have translated this growth into even higher value creation for our shareholders with our OCF coming at $2,711 million, up 21.6% YoY and FCF at $2,584 million, up 27.7% YoY.
"As we look ahead, global enterprise technology spend will only grow with adoption of AI," HCLTech CEO and Managing Director C Vijayakumar said.
He further said HCLTech is positioned to capitalise with its AI-led propositions, global delivery model and "ideal mix of technology services and products".
The company's total headcount stood at 227,481 during the quarter under review.
HCLTech on Thursday announced the appointment of Lee Fang Chew as an Independent Director of the company, effective from April 25.
The board also declared an interim dividend of Rs 18 per equity share of Rs 2 each for FY25, the company said in a BSE filing, adding, the payment date of the interim dividend will be May 15, 2024.
India's largest IT company TCS had reported a 9.1% rise in its March quarter net profit at Rs 12,434 crore. Infosys profit also saw a 30% upward trajectory at Rs 7,969 crore.
Wipro and Tech Mahindra, however, posted a decline in net profit by 7.8% and 40.9%, respectively.
HCLTech scrip closed at 2.08% lower at Rs 1,472.30 apiece on the BSE on Friday.
Edited by Kanishk Singh