HCL Infosystems loss widens to Rs 39.9 cr in Q2

IT company HCL Infosystems on Tuesday posted a wider consolidated loss of Rs 39.92 crore for the September 2019 quarter.

The company had posted a consolidated loss of Rs 33 crore in the July-September 2018 quarter, a regulatory filing said.

Its revenue from operations of HCL Infosystems also declined by over 40 per cent to Rs 581.77 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 976.37 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19, it added.

The company's distribution business revenue was at Rs 545 crore in the second quarter, of which the enterprise distribution segment was Rs 310 crore and consumer distribution was Rs 235 crore.

"During the quarter, our enterprise business was subdued because of competitive environment and market slowdown.

"In our system integration and solutions business, we are moving ahead as per our road map of focusing on execution of existing contracts and on collection of receivables," HCL Infosystems Managing Director Rangarajan Raghavan said.

He added that in this quarter, the company made "some traction in collections including a sizeable one from the Ministry of Defence".

The company continues to explore rationalisation and monetisation of its business and assets, he said.

The global services business in Singapore clocked Rs 104 crore in revenues. In August, the company had entered into an agreement to sell its step-down subsidiary, HCL Insys Pte Ltd, Singapore, to PCCW Solutions Ltd, Hong Kong, for a consideration of SGD 42 million plus closing cash balances and adjustments to working capital and net debt.

The transaction has not yet been consummated pending compliance with closing precedents and accordingly, the business operations associated with these transactions has been considered as discontinued operations.

The SI and solutions business registered a revenue of Rs 37 crore in the September 2019 quarter.

The company said it continues to face inordinate delay with certain customer acceptances and payments thereof, especially in the power sector.

"We are constantly engaging with customer for expediting the resolution but the progress has been very slow. During the quarter, we have provided for Rs 14.6 crore on account of such receivable," the company said.