BackL&T Infotech aims to double revenue, profit in four years
Firm, which will launch IPO next week, plans to use the sale proceeds for working capital needs, acquisitions
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Mumbai: L&T Infotech Ltd, which will sell shares to the public for the first time next week, on Monday said that it aims to double revenue and profit in the next four years.
A.M. Naik, non-executive chairman of L&T Infotech, said the company’s initial public offering (IPO) may be the last by an information technology (IT) firm of such size and an attractive opportunity for investors to participate in.
“I feel this IPO will do well. First of all, there is a dearth of IPOs in the market. This is the last IT company going for an IPO of this size. So, it is the last opportunity for people to invest in a company of nearly $1 billion. I have no doubt people will be very enthused," Naik told reporters on Monday.
“In the next 3-4 years, L&T Infotech will double revenue and with that, profit also. Profit may be slightly more (than double)," Naik added.
L&T Infotech posted a revenue of $887 million ( ₹ 5,847.1 crore) in the year ended March. Its profit for FY16 grew 15.1% from a year earlier to ₹ 922.3 crore, according to the company’s presentation.
L&T Infotech is the sixth largest Indian IT services firm in terms of export revenue with 258 active clients.
In August 2015, parent L&T named former Infosys veteran Sanjay Jalona as managing director and chief executive of L&T Infotech. Parent L&T’s shares rose to an eight-month high on Monday.
L&T Infotech priced its IPO at ₹ 705-710 per share last week. Larsen and Toubro intends to sell 10% of its existing shareholding—17.5 million shares—through an offer for sale (OFS) mechanism, which will help it raise ₹ 1,233 crore at the upper price band. The management said it may use the share sale proceeds for working capital requirements or for future acquisitions. The public issue opens on 11 July and closes on 13 July. The firm has set aside 35% of the issue size for retail investors, who are entitled to a ₹ 10 per-share discount on the issue price.
“As somebody said, we have purposely priced it (the IPO) low. We want our shareholders to get the upside. It is not that we could not sell shares at a higher price, we could have. But we said let’s leave something in the hand of retail and institutional shareholders who will be the market makers. Therefore, the management deliberately decided to price the IPO appropriately," Naik said.
L&T Infotech will get three years from the date of listing to comply with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) norms on minimum 25% public shareholding.
Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt. Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. Ltd and ICICI Securities Ltd are financial advisers to the sale.
Shailaja Sharma contributed to this story.
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