Hit by Covid-19, Startek June-quarter loss widens to $5.2 million

Business process management firm Startek on Tuesday reported widening of its loss to $5.2 million for the June quarter

Business process management firm Startek on Tuesday reported widening of its loss to USD 5.2 million for the June quarter, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns across various geographies.

The company, which has more than a third of its employees in India, had registered a loss of USD 3.5 million in the same period a year ago.

Net revenue declined by 11.55 per cent to USD 142.16 million during the reported quarter, from USD 160.5 million earlier, it said in a statement.

"Our global command center has enabled us to maintain the quality and continuity of our operations around the world, and across our business, we have driven consistent month-over-month improvements on both the top and bottom-line since the lows of the pandemic in April," Startek Executive Chairman and Global CEO Aparup Sengupta said.

The company has over 40,000 employees globally and around 18,500 in India.

"With the priority of keeping our entire global team safe and healthy, we moved swiftly to get over 40,000 team members to either work from home -- through our new 'StarCloud' remote work capabilities -- or in one of our delivery campuses, which adhere to strict social distancing and recommended health guidelines," Sengupta said.

He said approximately 80 per cent of its total workforce is active today compared to just 60 per cent in mid-April.

"An emerging trend from clients and prospects in response to the pandemic has been the adoption of digital services, particularly across high-growth verticals that are experiencing tailwinds from the COVID-19 environment.

"We are seeing positive momentum with clients in industries such as healthcare, e-commerce, and even cable and media in the wake of elevated consumer demand," Sengupta added.