Faster growth in non-US markets boosts TechM net 14 pc

India's fifth largest software exporter Tech Mahindra today reported a 14 per cent rise in its December quarter net at Rs 856 crore, fuelled by a faster revenue growth driven by non-US markets.
The Mahindra group company had reported a post tax net of Rs 751.3 crore in the year-ago period and Rs 644.7 crore in the September quarter.
Total revenue rose 12.8 per cent to Rs 7,558 crore on an annual basis, and at a lower 5.4 per cent over the preceding quarter.
The pre-tax profit margin rose an anaemic 0.80 per cent to 15.7 per cent on increase in revenues but was restricted by cross-currency headwinds, higher furloughs with telecom sector clients and higher percentage of people deployed onsite, chief financial officer Milind Kulkarni said.

The 'rest of the world' revenues grew 13.4 per cent to now occupy 23.9 per cent of the pie, the European market inched up 2.9 per cent, while the topline growth in the traditional market of the US which is turning increasingly protectionist was only a paltry 0.7 per cent, managing director CP Gurnani said.
Vice-chairman Vineet Nayyar acknowledged the threat posed by the Donald Trump administration, but termed the looming challenges as a "nuisance" which will not "disorient" the nimble IT sector.

"I don't see major disruptions for the tech sector. It is a nuisance which will have bureaucratic hurdles," he added.

Gurnani said the US needs smart intellectual capital to solve their problems and underscored the need for a dialogue between the IT sector and the new administration.
Over 3,500 of its 1.17 lakh employees are based in the US, and 35 per cent of them are locals.
The utilisation and attrition levels were broadly unchanged at 77 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively.
The company added 12 clients during the reporting quarter and Gurnani said the project pipeline looks "reasonably good" even though there are fears of the macro environment affecting the deal fructification.
TechM added cash of Rs 950 crore during the reporting quarter, taking the total cash/equivalents to Rs 4,951 crore as of end December.

Gurnani also expressed satisfaction with the way all the three acquisitions of last calendar year have played out.
The TechM counter closed 1.06 per cent up at Rs 471.70 apiece on the BSE, against a 0.12 per cent correction in the benchmark.