Large contracts in pipeline, deal win trend intact in medium term: Mphasis

Mphasis has a reasonable proportion of large contracts in its pipeline and expects its current trend of new deal wins to continue over the medium term, a top company official said

Indian IT solutions provider Mphasis has a reasonable proportion of large contracts in its pipeline and expects its current trend of new deal wins to continue over the medium term, despite macro headwinds, a top company official said on Friday.
 

The Bengaluru-based company said it won new deals worth $302 million, including two large deals worth $110 million, in the second quarter ended Sept. 30.
 

While the growth was flat with the first quarter, it was an improvement from the roughly 13% sequential drop in new contract value won in the first quarter.
 

"We have seen customer conversations remain healthy and investment being on top of their mind," Chief Financial Officer Manish Dugar told Reuters in an interview.
 

"There is reason to believe that total contract value should remain at the current levels, or grow for sure in the medium term. But the confidence is more in the immediate 12-month period."
 

Mphasis, early on Friday, reported second-quarter profit rose nearly 23% to 4.18 billion Indian rupees ($50.6 million), while revenue from operations increased 22.7% to 35.2 billion rupees, boosted by the deal wins.
 

India's IT services industry was one of the top benefactors during the pandemic as several businesses rushed towards digitising infrastructures and adopted remote or hybrid working policies. However, top-tier IT firms have given cautious forecasts so far amid the economic uncertainty globally.
 

While No.1 Tata Consultancy Services said clients are taking longer to decide on bigger deals, Infosys tightened its full-year forecast and Wipro gave a disappointing current-quarter outlook.
 

Dugar said many companies were looking for technology-led efficiency improvements and better customer experience.
 

"Every chief information officer is at this point in time looking at prioritisation of funds towards business transformation."
 

"That's another reason for seeing an increased demand from our customers."
 

Mphasis shares have fallen about 37% this year through Thursday's close, more than the broader Nifty IT index's 26.5% decline.
 

($1 = 82.6950 Indian rupees)
 

(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)