Indian IT services company LTIMindtree on Wednesday reported a 1.2% decline year-on-year in consolidated net profit for the March quarter to ₹1,100.7 crore but exuded confidence it will get back to growth in the April-June period.
The Q4 report card was impacted by slower ramp-ups and weak showing in the banking and financial services space.
The profit (attributable to shareholders of the company) came in at ₹1099.9 crore for the March quarter, a year-on-year dip of 1.2%.
"This quarter was a one-off. We will return to growth in Q1(FY25). The positive outcomes of our positioning as an organisation with scaled expanded capabilities and stronger partnerships continue to reflect in our order inflow and pipeline," Debashis Chatterjee, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of LTIMindtree, said during the company's earning call for the fourth quarter.
He said the company saw higher than usual pass-throughs in the December quarter, and the absence of those pass-throughs reflected on the topline performance in Q4.
"We had furloughs in Q3, we had a gradual reversal of the furloughs which also impacted the overall revenue ramp up... in some of the large deals that we have closed, the ramp up was slower than what we had expected, so slower rampups also impacted the overall revenue," he said.
He further said the company has entered FY25 with a strong foundation to drive revenue synergies.
"Reflecting on LTIMindtree's achievements and looking forward, I am confident that the insights gained and the strategies implemented will enable us to execute better," he added.
The company's revenue for operations for Q4FY24 was marked at ₹8,892.9 crore, up 2.32% from the year-ago period, according to a BSE filing.
Mr. Chatterjee affirmed that the company will execute better in FY25 despite "cautionary" market conditions.
Almost 74% of the March quarter revenue was brought in by the North American region, followed by the European Union (14.6%), as per the company's investor presentation.
For the full FY24, the net profit was 4% higher at ₹4,584.6 crore.
The profit (attributable to shareholders of the company) for the fiscal stood at ₹4,582.1 crore, which was 3.94% higher than that of FY23.
The revenue from operations for the full fiscal ended March 2024 was ₹35,517 crore, a 7% more than the previous fiscal.
"We closed FY24 amidst a tough macro environment and delivered a resilient performance with full-year revenue growth of 4.4 per cent in USD terms and an EBIT margin of 15.7 per cent," Mr. Chatterjee said.
The company's order inflow for the full year at $5.6 billion registered a 15.7% growth over FY23. The top honcho said the company's dedication to align closely with the client's needs is mirrored in the significant order inflow recorded.
"This growth reflects the positive outcomes of our positioning as an organisation with scale, expanded capabilities, and larger partnerships. As the market dynamics evolve, we are excited to be part of innovations, partnerships, and initiatives that our clients will embark on in FY25," Mr. Chatterjee said.
The revenue from the BFSI sector shrunk in the January-March period year-on-year.
The company — formed through the merger of two L&T Group subsidiaries erstwhile Mindtree and L&T Infotech in 2022 — has also announced the reappointment of Nachiket Deshpande as whole-time director for five consecutive years effective from May 2, 2024.
Mr. Deshpande said the company expects the hiring plans to be directly proportional to its expected growth in Q1.
"Hiring is always a reflection of the business speed and growth... As we look to return to growth in Q1, we also accordingly expect the hiring numbers to go up in the quarter.
"We onboarded 500-plus freshers as part of this quarter's plan, and we have a specific quarter-by-quarter onboarding plan... we'll continue to execute that," he said.
LTIMindtree's scrip closed 0.23% higher at ₹4,732.55 apiece on the BSE on Wednesday. The results were declared after market hours.
The board of directors has recommended a final dividend of ₹45 per equity share of ₹1 each.
