Tech Mahindra Q4 Net slips 3.6 pc on forex loss, provisions

Tech Mahindra, the country's fifth largest software exporter, today posted 3.6 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 614.2 crore for the January-March quarter, pulled down by forex losses and increase in tax provisions.
The city-based company from the Mahindra group had posted a post tax net of Rs 637.7 crore in the corresponding January-March period previous year.
The company booked a foreign exchange loss of Rs 167 crore for the quarter, while provisions for taxes increased to Rs 209.2 crore from year ago's Rs 146.1 crore.
On the margins front, there was a decline of 1.90 per cent on a sequential basis in the pre-tax margins, company's managing director and CEO C P Gurnani said, refusing to divulge the figure.

He said a wage hike which took effect from January 2014, coupled with a hit of Rs 34 crore on British Telecom ammortisation were the primary factors which dragged margins.
Total revenues increased by a healthy 34.3 per cent to Rs 5,058 crore in the quarter, while on a constant currency basis, they were up 18.2 per cent at USD 825 million.

The company added 6,333 people to its workforce during the quarter, taking the total headcount to 89,441, which includes 60,997 in the software arm, 21,830 at the business process outsourcing arm and 6,614 support staff.
For the financial year ended March 31, 2014, the net profit stood at Rs 3,028.8 crore as against Rs 1,955.6 crore in FY2012-13, up 54.8 per cent.

Revenue grew 31.3 per cent to Rs 18,831.4 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 14,332 crore in the previous fiscal.
"Our result this year is a reflection of our commitment towards growth and our passion to help our customers deal with the needs of a dramatically changing world, fuelled by hyper connectivity, and decisions at the speed of thought," Gurnani said.
For the next fiscal, the company aims to achieve USD 5 billion mark in revenues, which is a huge jump from USD 3.10 billion it achieved in the recently ended FY14, he said.
Big ticket deals, like the one forged with Belgian telecom company KPN, will help it achieve the ambitious revenue growth target of over 60 per cent.

The firm had debt at Rs 363 crore as of March 31, 2014, and has repaid Rs 796 crore in FY'14. Its cash and cash equivalent stood at Rs 3,599 crore as of March 31, 2014.
The company has proposed a dividend of Rs 20 per share (200 per cent) for FY2013-14.
Shares of the company gained 0.91 per cent to Rs 1,838.15 at BSE today.