It's mid-morning and the two-kilometre stretch from Rashbehari Avenue to Gariahat Market is bustling with activity. Dotted with saree shops and hawker stalls that sell everything, from hairpins, hangers and towels to hosiery, mobile phone covers and kurtas, this is one of South Kolkata's busiest shopping areas. And it is beginning to wake up to the Paytm crisis.
Top five India-based IT services providers grew 23.8 per cent last year compared to 7.7 per cent growth logged by the overall global IT services market, research firm Gartner said on Monday.
The Nifty IT index rose by 5.14 per cent on Friday (January 12), marking its best performance in a day since July 2020, followed by another 1.9 per cent rally on Monday. With this, the index, which tracks the share prices of India's 10 biggest information technology (IT) services companies, has increased 7.1 per cent in the past two sessions. However, the substantial rally in the index occurred at a time when India's four largest IT companies reported their worst quarterly performance in over five years.
President Joe Biden and other top US leaders had been warning for days that America would strike back at the militias, and they made it clear it wouldn't be just one hit but a "tiered response" over time.
India's IT services sector witnessed 4.2 per cent growth in 2012-13.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Jalan-Kalrock consortium, the new owners of cash-strapped Jet Airways, how much have they paid towards dues on account of provident fund and gratuity to the former employees of the troubled airline. The top court made the query while commencing the hearing on a batch of petitions, including the one filed by the Jet Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Welfare Association, against the October 21, 2022 order of the insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT.
The country's largest IT services company TCS on Wednesday said it has 250 staffers in Israel and stressed that the ongoing conflict will not have any major impact on its business. The company said it is in constant touch with all staffers, and at present, the focus is their safety and to look at how they help the communities they live in. It has initiated business continuity plans wherever necessary to ensure that the customers do not get impacted, TCS chief operating officer N Ganapathy Subramaniam told reporters, adding that it does not expect any major impact of the war on its business.
Several technology companies are seeking to step up hiring from Tier-II and Tier-III cities of India in 2024 to tap into a vast talent pool of skilled professionals churned out by educational institutions and training centres in these regions. Tier-II and Tier-III cities such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Mohali, Vadodara, Chandigarh, and Indore contribute around 12-15 per cent of the country's tech talent, hinting towards the strong talent availability in these regions, according to Randstad India, a talent management firm.
The company -- the first major IT services firms to announce such a move -- has asked its workforce to return to offices because of the need to deepen the value systems and a belief in productivity gains coming from co-working, TCS chief human resources officer Milind Lakkad told reporters.
Tata Consultancy Services topped the list of top 10 best performing IT service providers worldwide rated by Global Services, a specialised publication for IT businesses.
India's domestic IT services market ranks third in Asia/Pacific.
Disappointing quarterly earnings numbers and revenue forecast from IT services company Wipro also weighed on investor sentiments. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 247.78 points or 0.38 per cent to settle at 65,629.24 points. During the day, it plunged 533.52 points or 0.80 per cent to 65,343.50 points.
The 24th annual survey saw the Top 20 IT companies -- from both IT services export and domestic IT sector -- post a mixed performance, with the 8 fastest growing companies recording double digit growth.
AAI planned to achieve gross sales of Rs 7,760 crore (Rs 77.6 billion) in 2013-14 which is approximately 23 per cent higher than the target of 2012-13, the state-run airports body said in a release.
IT services company Wipro on Thursday reported a 12 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to about Rs 2,870 crore for the June 2023 quarter. It had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,563.6 crore in the year-ago period (Q1FY23). Wipro's income from operations in the June quarter increased 6 per cent to Rs 22,831 crore.
However, the second quarter of FY24 is expected to be muted, and, with that, the hope of double-digit growth is now being pushed to FY25. However, analysts are expecting the momentum in the closure of record total contract values (TCVs) will continue, as has been the case over the last two quarters.
The escalating tensions between India and Canada have put Indian IT companies in a wait-and-watch mode but industry experts believe that there are no immediate areas of concern at this moment. Apex IT association Nasscom, in a statement, said since this is an evolving situation, it will continue to engage with stakeholders to track any potential areas of impact that may need support.
JP Morgan has reiterated its negative stance on Indian information technology (IT) services and downgraded the sector to underweight (neutral earlier post Q4-FY23 numbers), as it believes the overall demand environment for the sector still remains weak. The research firm expects most companies in the sector to disappoint while announcing their first quarter numbers for the current fiscal (Q1-FY24). Among stocks, it has placed Infosys, TCS, MphasiS in its 'negative catalyst watch'.
'The deal pipeline across products is robust for 2024.'
Low levels of communication services, such as Internet, telephone, fax and television, have impacted occupancies at three- and four-star hotels, a study conducted by the Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Association of India said.
India's information technology (IT) sector will witness subdued hiring in 2023-24 as macro uncertainties impact demand environment, with clients either taking a pause on spend or stopping discretionary spend, say human resource experts. To begin with, unlike earlier years, the three large IT players TCS, HCLTech, and Wipro have not provided any new hiring targets for the financial year. And Wipro has said that its hiring target will depend on the demand environment.
According to a Gartner study, Indian IT services market is likely to grow to USD10 bn by 2011.
The Q1FY24 earnings season has started on a dismal note for corporate India. The early-bird companies' revenue growth has been at a 10-quarter low, while the combined earnings of non-BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) companies seem to have hit the ceiling. The numbers suggest corporate India is entirely dependent on BFSI companies and the IT services sector to drive growth in revenue and profit while other sectors are showing signs of stagnation.
India's second largest IT services company Infosys on Thursday reported a 3.1 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 6,215 crore for the September 2023 quarter. The earnings (before minority interest) of the Bengaluru-based company stood at Rs 6,026 crore in the year-ago period. The company - which competes in the IT services market with TCS, Wipro, HCL Technologies and others - saw its revenue rising 6.7 per cent to Rs 38,994 crore for the just-ended September quarter.
In an interesting move, S Ramadori, chief executive officer and managing director of information technology major Tata Consultancy Services, recently said that TCS may provide IT services to casinos in Macau.
New age diagnostic tools come in handy for BharatBenz to predict repair needs and breakdown in advance.
More than 100 days as the chief executive of India's second-largest information technology (IT) services company Infosys, Vishal Sikka on Wednesday said he was upset at the sector. He added there was a "better direction" the industry must look to take.
Global funds, according to Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, are now beginning to pay more attention to India with the market now offering 30 companies with a market capitalisation over $25 billion.
Akasa Air has reduced its service on 10 routes and stopped operating flights on eight others since the exodus of pilots began in early July. The airline's flights per week reduced from 945 in June to 754 in October, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium's data, which has been reviewed by Business Standard. The airline currently operates flights on 34 routes. Between June and October, Akasa Air ceased operations on the following: Ahmedabad-Kochi, Ahmedabad-Hyderabad, Ahmedabad-Pune, Bengaluru-Hyderabad, Bengaluru-Chennai, Kochi-Hyderabad, Goa-Lucknow, and Goa-Hyderabad.
Indian exporters shipping goods to Israel may face higher insurance premiums and shipping costs due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to experts. Israel witnessed a surprise and unprecedented multifront attack by air, land and sea by the Hamas militant group, which rules the Gaza Strip, in its southern parts on Saturday morning. The International trade experts said the conflict may reduce the profits of domestic exporters but will not impact trade volumes unless war escalates.
Mutual funds (MFs) are betting on a turnaround in the healthcare sector to boost returns but are divided on the prospects of the information technology (IT) sector amid uncertain growth outlook. At the end of June, all of the top 20 fund houses were overweight on the healthcare sector vis--vis the sector's presence in the BSE 200 index, shows a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFS). In the case of the IT sector, only six of the 20 fund houses had overweight positions.
French consulting-IT major to focus on specialised areas in energy, tax and telecom
Indian IT services companies have seen several CEO changes that have, over the past few months, led to some crucial exits at the mid-senior level in a trend that is likely to continue. According to a recent Motilal Oswal report, "Movement of mid-to-senior leadership at IT services firms is a reality, partially on account of multiple CEO-level changes.
IT services firm Infosys on Thursday reported an 11 per cent rise in consolidated net profit in June quarter at Rs 5,945 crore, but lowered full year growth outlook to 1-3.5 per cent amid macro uncertainties. The net profit (before minority interest) during the same period previous year stood at Rs 5,362 crore.
The July-September quarter results of software companies in the engineering research and development (ER&D) segment were broadly in line with expectations, though there have been cuts in revenue growth guidance. While results were a mixed bag, and there are cautionary views on the near-term outlook, brokerages and global consulting firms highlight the strong growth trajectory for the sector. They expect this segment of the software sector to grow by 8-12 per cent going forward.
'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 key proposals from the IT industry that were not addressed included removal of dual levies on software products
IT services major Wipro is reconsidering a proposal of buy back of equity shares, said the company in a regulatory filing. A final decision on this will be taken during the board meeting to be held on April 26-27. The outcome of the board meeting will be communicated to the stock exchanges soon after conclusion on April 27.