Hinduja Global Q1 net declines 14% to Rs 32.49 cr

BPO services provider Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) today reported a 13.6% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 32.49 crore for quarter ended June 30 due to higher non-cash depreciation charges and exchange rate variations.

The firm had posted a net profit of Rs 37.60 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a statement.

Consolidated net sales rose 19% to Rs 666.21 crore in the April-June quarter of this fiscal from Rs 559.17 crore in the same quarter of 2013-14.

Commenting on the firm's performance, HGS CEO Partha DeSarkar said: "HGS continued its growth momentum during the quarter, delivering strong performance across key geographies including the US, Philippines and India."

He added that the firm's net profit declined mainly due to higher non-cash depreciation charges in accordance with the new Companies Act and lower other income on account of exchange rate variations.

The healthcare vertical continues to benefit from the US healthcare reforms and was a primary driver of growth, led by some exciting new business opportunities. The performance of Canadian operations was slightly subdued due to the seasonal downswing, DeSarkar said.

Various profitability improvement measures undertaken last year resulted in a stable performance for domestic operations. The UK and European businesses both experienced a significant revival in revenue growth, underpinned by public sector and other new client wins, he added.

"As of June 30, 2014, the company had net debt of Rs 24.4 crore and a net worth of Rs 1,493.8 crore," HGS said.

HGS had 141 active clients (excluding payroll processing clients) as of June 30, 2014.

Its total headcount was 26,803, of which 59% were based in India, 18% in Philippines, 10% in the US, 10% in Canada and the remaining 3% in Europe at the end of the second quarter.

Going ahead, DeSarkar said: "Management's ongoing focus and investment in global sales and marketing has enabled us to establish a promising sales pipeline across verticals. We are quite confident that this will ultimately translate into long standing customer relationships, quality revenue streams and an improved profitability going forward.