HCL Tech Q4 net up 15.3% at Rs2,568 crore

Net revenue for the quarter grew 21.3 per cent year-on-year to Rs15,990 crore over the comparable quarter the previous year.

For the whole financial year (FY19), the company's net profit stood at Rs10,123 crore, a growth of 15.3 per cent over the previous fiscal. Revenue for the fiscal grew 19.5 per cent to Rs60,427 crore ($8.63 billion).

With annual revenues of $8.63 billion in 2018-19, Noida-based HCL Technologies (HCLT) also surpassed Wipro to become the third-largest IT services firm in India.

For FY20, the company has increased its revenue guidance from 9.5 -11.5 per cent to 14-16 per cent in constant currency. The company expects operating margin (EBIT) to range from 18.5 per cent to 19.5 per cent.

HCL Technologies expects to reach $10 billion revenue mark in FY20.

At the growth of 11.8 per cent in constant currency, the company has exceeded its upper end of the guidance range of 9.5-11.5 per cent. For the full year FY19, Mode 2 grew at solid 28.7 per cent y-o-y in constant currency.

In terms of revenue Mode 2 (emerging technologies) and Mode 3 (IP-led growth) together constitute 28.4 per cent at the end of FY19. While Mode 2 grew 28.7 per cent yoy, Mode 3 grew 48.4 per cent for the FY19.

C Vijayakumar, President & CEO of HCL Technologies, said the company expects Mode 2 and Mode 3 to constitute 35 per cent of revenue in the coming years.

This confidence is at the back of increasing spend on digital transformation and IBM IP products to pay off in FY20. Vijayakumar said, "Every industry is re-imaging their digital journey and it is a tailwind that will drive our growth."

"We have launched new products, our own IP, which will strengthen our portfolio," he added.

The spend on digital transformation stands at $6 trillion, 20 per cent of which are on digital and growing at 18 per cent y-o-y. According to Vijayakumar, the company's investments in Mode 2 services will help leverage this capability.

Last fiscal the company acquired seven of IBM products for $1.8 billion. HCL Tech will finalise the deal by May or at most by July. The company expects these products to drive Mode 3 growth in FY20.

"We expects 7-9 per cent growth organically and 7 per cent inorganic growth," Prateek Aggarwal, CFO, HCL Technologies Ltd, said. 

The inorganic growth will be led by IBM products and other acquisitions the company made last fiscal.

The company's organic growth stood at 6.3-6.5 per cent for FY19 and the company's guidance was 4.5-6.5 per cent.

The company has announced a dividend of Rs 2 per share, 65th consecutive quarter of dividend payout. Payout ratio for FY’19 stands at a healthy 52.6 per cent.

“HCLites have delivered a truly blockbuster performance with a double-digit constant currency revenue growth of 11.8 per cent, that outperformed the high-end of our guidance. With 28.7 per cent y-o-y growth in constant currency, our new Mode-2 services delivered their strongest growth,” Vijayakumar added.