L&T Infotech rises 6%, hits new high as June quarter profit rises 17% YoY

The company's operating margin expanded 90 bps sequentially to 20.1 per cent in the three-month period

Shares of Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) rose 6.58 per cent to hit a fresh all-time high of Rs 2,340 on the BSE on Thursday after the mid-size IT services firm reported a 17.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit for June quarter (Q1FY21) at Rs 414.6 crore on account of lower operating expenses.

Revenue of the Mumbai-headquartered IT services firm rose 18.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2,949.2 crore during this period. It, however, declined 2.1 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis. In constant currency terms, revenues came in at $390.3 million, a 4.7 per cent fall on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Operating margin of the Larsen & Toubro group company expanded 90 basis points sequentially to 20.1 per cent in the three-month period. The company has won one large deal in the first quarter, the mid-tier IT firm said in an exchange filing.

The company's profit before tax (PBT) rose 16.9 per cent YoY to Rs Rs 558.9 crore while it remained flat on sequential basis, it said.

The company saw its headcount remain flat at 31,477 employees on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The attrition rate also dropped 130 basis points to 15.2 per cent during the quarter.

The numbers were largely in line with Street expectations with a beat on the profit front. Brokerage firm IDBI Capital had pegged the profit at Rs 376 crore for the quarter while revenue was seen at Rs 2,964.9 crore.

Going forward, analysts at ICICI Securities expect the company to register an improvement in revenue growth mainly led by digital acceleration, strong niche in sub segments and ramp up in its large deal pipeline. In addition, the company is expected to register healthy growth in margins in coming years. Hence, they remain positive on the stock from a long-term perspective.

At 9:56 AM, the stock was trading 6 per cent higher at Rs 2,327.10 as compared to 0.8 per cent gain in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 1.7 lakh shares have changed hands on the NSE and BSE so far.