IT company Wipro on Friday posted an 11.74 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 2,694.2 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2023.
With the last quarter of 2023-24 (FY24) expected to have been soft owing to lower discretionary spend and macro uncertainty, many are hoping FY25 will be a year of recovery for the information-technology (IT) industry. The fourth quarter, January-March, is considered soft, and will continue to see the headwinds the sector has been facing. And the sector has entered the new financial year on a weak footing. Analysts are expecting Tier-I firms to report sequential growth of -1 per cent to 1.5 per cent and midcap players' growth may range between 0.7 per cent and 4 per cent.
According to outsourcing advisors and experts, while almost half of the deals are likely to see delay, the others are expected to be renewed at a lower price as enterprises ask for discounts in roll-over contracts.
'The hiring in India will be primarily around skills in data engineering, AI, and product engineering.'
IT company HCL Tech reported a 6.2 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,350 crore, highest ever on a quarterly basis, in the third quarter ended December 31. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 4,096 crore in the same period a year ago, HCL Tech said in a regulatory filing.
IT company Infosys on Thursday posted a 7.3 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 6,106 crore in the third quarter of the current financial year. The company had posted a net profit (attributable to shareholders) of Rs 6,586 crore during the same period a year ago, Infosys said in a regulatory filing. Consolidated revenue from operations of the company increased marginally by 1.3 per cent to Rs 38,821 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 38,318 crore in the year-ago period.
The denial rate jumped from 4% to 41% for Tech Mahindra, from 6% to 34% for TCS, from 7% to 53% for Wipro and from just 2% to 45% for Infosys.
After startups and Big Tech, the layoff season may have begun at the $245 billion Indian information-technology (IT) industry. Bengaluru-based IT major Wipro is looking to cut hundreds of jobs, targeting mid-level employees working onsite as the company looks to improve margins, according to a media report, citing two sources. The company has said it is aligning its business and talent to the changing market environment.
Indian IT firms are now making their mark as Superbrands. Of the 74 Indian Business Superbrands selected by Superbrands - an independent arbiter on brand management - seven are IT companies. Among a total of 980 brands invited to be judged and listed in Business Superbrands, around 12 technology companies had participated.
TCS, Infosys and others are banking on automation to protect their turf in the US, but building a successful revenue model around it may prove difficult
State Bank of India is planning a joint venture with a reputed IT company in a bid to bring its technology level at par with the private and foreign banks.
'Such steps would be a barrier and something people do not want.'
Indian IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Infosys and Satyam, besides MNCs such as IBM, are working towards becoming carbon neutral while simultaneously converting their expertise in this area to help global companies become environment-friendly.
'A cutback in hiring and compensation growth by IT companies will have a significant impact on consumer demand, especially in the urban sector of the economy.'
The blast at The Rameshwaram Caf has caused distress and concern among the startup and information technology (IT) community, raising questions related to safety and security. Approximately 10 people were reportedly injured in a low-intensity bomb blast at The Rameshwaram Caf, a popular restaurant in Bengaluru's Brookfield. The surrounding area is a major hub for the Indian technology (tech) industry, housing many startups and top IT companies such as IBM, SAP, Accenture, International Tech Park Bangalore, and Prestige Technostar.
Among the Sensex firms, Wipro jumped over 6 per cent after the IT company's December quarter earnings beat estimates. The other prominent gainers were HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries.
From installing water-saving aerators on taps to using cans for washing hands and dishes, Bengaluru is adopting diverse strategies to tide over the water crisis. While several citizens have taken to social media to urge Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to make work from home mandatory for IT companies, it appears that hybrid mode will continue to be the norm for most - although with new water conservation measures in place. Co-working space provider Urban Vault has, for instance, installed smart water meters to detect leakage.
Loan against gold as a product is catching on fast. Let's keep the momentum going, but aim for sustainable growth. A few bad apples should not ruin the brunch, argues Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'Elevator rules deem no more than two people for a unit that carries six people, and as an employee enters the office, there are three masks to be used for five hours each a day, then disposed and one for the next day as well.'
Dalal Street investors became richer by Rs 9.68 lakh crore in five days of market rally, where the Sensex breached the historic 73,000-mark for the first time ever to reach a new record peak, taking the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies to an all-time high of Rs 376 lakh crore. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 759.49 points or 1.05 per cent to settle at a new closing high of 73,327.94 on Monday. During the day, it zoomed 833.71 points or 1.14 per cent to reach its all-time peak of 73,402.16.
In the mid-tier space, clients with weak balance sheets are likely to ask for price revision apart from delay in payment.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has to "keep evolving" and be relevant to clients as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technologies emerge, K Krithivasan, chief executive officer and managing director of the IT company, has said in a New Year's message to employees. "It is always heartening to see the reinforcement of how strong our relationships are with our clients and the level of trust they place with us.
The current financial year would be a twilight year for the Indian information technology sector as the earnings of these companies may witness a declining trend, while there stocks could deliver positive returns, a report says.
Debashis Chatterjee speaks about the overall demand environment and company's strategy
Corporate India reported high double-digit growth in net profit for the fourth consecutive quarter in October-December 2023 (Q3FY24), driven by margin gains from lower prices of raw material and energy.
Technology companies continue to be the most valued brands globally, with the top five most valued companies from the technology sector, according to Brand Finance 2024. Samsung has entered the top five most valued brands globally. Apple secured the first position after falling to the second spot in 2023.
Certain changes in the past two or three years could have a long-term structural impact on the IT services market.
Movement in the equity market this week will largely be dictated by quarterly earnings of blue-chip firms HDFC Bank and Hindustan Unilever, along with the announcement of WPI inflation data and global trends, analysts said. Trading activity of foreign investors, global oil benchmark Brent crude and rupee-dollar trend would also guide the movement.
As much as Rs 47,810 crore was spent on share buybacks by 48 companies in 2023 -- the highest amount since 2017. This surge in value was largely driven by a few large-sized issues, including those by Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 17,000 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 10,000 crore), and Wipro (Rs 12,000 crore). In 2022, 58 companies had repurchased shares worth Rs 38,305 crore, according to data from Prime Database.
As a major contributor to exports, the IT industry has greater responsibility to perform better in view of the huge Current Account Deficit facing India, said N R Narayana Murthy, whose appointment as Infosys Executive Chairman was ratified by shareholders on Saturday.
Information technology companies in smaller cities are forming regional associations to attract investments and get their demands fulfilled at the local level, as industry body Nasscom is unable to spread its wings in many such cities. Smaller companies in places such as Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Madurai, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram have created regional fora to sell their locations and also lobby state governments.
Infosys, HCL might fare marginally better than TCS.
India's top technology companies will witness a tepid revenue expansion in the third quarter (October - December) of the current financial year (Q3FY24) - along expected lines - on the back of furloughs and no blockbuster deals, even as the momentum gained from Generative AI (GenAI) is likely to take centre stage. IT services and consulting firm Accenture's first quarter numbers in FY24 showed a significant pick up in GenAI spending. It signed new bookings to the tune of $450 million in this space, a surge from the $300 million signed in the whole of FY23.
rediffGURUS Ashwini Dasgupta, Kanchan Rai and Rajesh Nair offer important career advice.
Decline in hiring is not a surprise and is consistent with slowdown in growth rates and efforts of Indian IT to drive up productivity, says the report
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Information technology companies have always dominated Fortune magazine's '100 Best Companies to Work For' list for many years.
Trouble started brewing after Cognizant announced that Ravi Kumar, former Infosys president, would take over as the Nasdaq-listed company's CEO.
With a total compensation of Rs 1,500 million, C P Gurnani of Tech Mahindra is the highest paid CEO of a tech firm.