Hexaware Q4 net declines 15% due to forex, employee restructuring

New Delhi: Mid-sized IT services company, Hexaware Technologies, today reported 15 percent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 87.3 crore for the quarter ended December 2014, mainly due to currency headwinds. [caption id=“attachment_2006193” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image[/caption] The firm had posted a net profit of Rs 103.2 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a BSE filing. Consolidated revenues, however, rose by 15 per cent to Rs 711.8 crore in the October-December quarter of 2014 fiscal as against Rs 620 crore in the same quarter of 2013 fiscal. The company follows January-December period as fiscal year. When asked about the decline in profits, Hexaware CEO R Srikrishna told PTI: “The decline is mainly due to a hedging (of currency) the company had done almost one and a half years back. Also, there is a hit due to employee restructuring related to a large client.” The company reported an exchange rate difference loss of Rs 14.85 crore and an exceptional item of Rs 6.56 crore. “This quarter, Hexaware had robust q-o-q revenue growth of 4.1 percent and 190 basis points increase in EBITDA margin. This is a validation of the company’s strategic direction,” Hexaware Technologies Chairman Atul Nishar said. The company also declared an interim dividend of Rs 2.50 per share. “Revenue growth during Q4 2014 was broad-based. Europe led the geographic growth, while Healthcare and Insurance led growth among verticals. Business Intelligence & Analytics and Remote Infrastructure Management Services led the growth among service lines,” Srikrishna said. During the fourth quarter, the firm added 10 new clients across all its key focus areas. Of these, 3 clients each were added in the Healthcare and Insurance (H&I) Vertical and Travel & Transportation vertical. The company added 2 clients each in Banking and Financial Services and Emerging Segments. Of the 10 clients added in Q4 2014, 3 customers are based in Americas, 6 in Europe and 1 in Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of December 2014 stood at USD 78.35 million. The total headcount stood at 10,016 at the end of 2014, up 319 q-o-q and 1,162 y-o-y. 614 fresh graduate engineers were added in 2014. In US dollar terms, net profit fell by 16 per cent to USD 14.05 million in Q4 of 2014 from USD 16.67 million during the same quarter of 2013. Revenue rose by 14 per cent to USD 114.54 million from USD 100.14 million during the same period. For the entire 2014 fiscal, net profit declined by 16 percent at Rs 320.2 crore as against Rs 379 crore in 2013. Revenues rose by 13 percent to Rs 2,581.7 crore from Rs 2,285.3 crore earlier. The firm added a total of 44 clients during 2014 fiscal. PTI