HCL Tech Q4 Results: Net profit flat at ₹3,986 crore, revenue rises 7% YoY; 5 key highlights

HCL Tech Q4 Results: HCL Technologies announced its January-March quarter results for fiscal 2023-24 (Q4FY24) on Friday, April 26, reporting a marginal rise of 0.1 per cent in its consolidated net profit at ₹3,986 crore, compared to ₹3,983 crore in the corresponding period last year. India's third-largest software and information technology (IT) service company's revenue from operations in the fourth quarter of FY24 increased 7.1 per cent to ₹28,499 crore, compared to ₹26,606 crore reported in the same period last year.

“HCL Tech continues to lead the industry in FY24 with good USD revenue growth of 5.4 per cent YoY during challenging times through our strong commitment to our clients and our people. More importantly, we have translated this growth into even higher value creation for our shareholders with our OCF coming at $2,711 mn, up 21.6 per cent YoY and FCF at $2,584 mn, up 27.7 per cent YoY,'' said C Vijayakumar CEO, Managing Director, HCL Tech.

Also Read: HCL Tech Q4 results: Tech giant announces interim dividend of ₹18/share for FY25; Details here

Here are 5 key highlights of HCL Tech's Q4 scorecard:

1.P&L Account: Profit, Income, Revenue

HCL Tech's net profit was largely muted and declined 8.4 per cent compared to the preceding December quarter amid decelerating tech spending among clients due to macro-overhang. USD revenue rose six per cent year-on-year (YoY) to $3,430 million. Pre-tax profit (EBIT) of ₹5,018 crore was down 10.6 per cent sequentially but rose 3.8 per cent as compared to the previous year.

EBIT margin (per-tax profit as percentage of revenue) declined to 17.6 per cent in the January-March period from 19.8 per cent in the previous quarter and 18.1 per cent a year ago. HCL Tech slashed its constant current revenue growth guidance for FY25 to 3-5 per cent from 5-5.5 per cent in FY24. The EBIT margin guidance was kept constant at 18-19 per cent. For the entire FY24, HCL Tech reported a 5.73 per cent rise in net profit to ₹15,702 crore. The total FY24 revenue rose 8.3 per cent YoY to ₹1,09,913 crore.

2.Dividend

HCL Tech's board declared an interim dividend of ₹18 per equity share for the current fiscal 2024-25 (FY25). This is the 85th consecutive quarter of dividend pay-out by HCL Tech. ‘’The Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of Rs. 18 per equity share of Rs. 2 each of the company for the financial year 2024-25. 

The record date of May 7, 2024 fixed for the payment of the aforesaid interim dividend has been confirmed by the board,'' said HCL Tech in regulatory filing to the stock exchanges. The payment date of the interim dividend is fixed as May 15, 2024.

3.Headcount, Attrition

HCL Tech's total headcount stood at 2,27,481 during the March quarter with a net addition of 2,725 employees and 3,096 freshers. The attrition rate declined to 12.4 per cent compared to 19.5 per cent in the year-ago period. For the entire fiscal FY24, HCL Tech added 1,537 employees and 12,141 freshers. Attrition excludes involuntary attrition and digital process operations, said HCL Tech. HCL Tech on Thursday announced the appointment of Lee Fang Chew as an Independent Director of the company, effective from April 25.

4.Vertical metrics

The technology and services vertical fell 8.7 per cent YoY, while healthcare and life sciences vertical fell one per cent. The telecom, media, publishing and entertainment vertical grew 39.2 per cent YoY, while the manufacturing vertical grew 14.3 per cent YoY in the March quarter.

‘’As we look ahead, global enterprise technology spend will only grow with adoption of AI (artificial intelligence). We are well positioned to capitalize with our AI led propositions, Global delivery model and ideal mix of technology services and products,'' said C Vijayakumar.

5.Deal Wins

HCL Tech's new deal wins stood at $2.29 billion, compared to $1.93 billion in the previous quarter and $2.07 billion in the year-ago period. The tech giant won 21 new large deals in the March quarter with 13 in services and eight in software. For the entire fiscal FY24, the total contract value (TCV) stood at $ 9,759 million, up 10 per cent YoY. It won 73 new large deals, with 36 in services and 37 in software.

“Led by a differentiated portfolio, HCL Tech continues to grow despite global economic and geopolitical headwinds. Our focus on doing business sustainably and responsibly is sharper than ever as we scale our community initiatives beyond India,'' said Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCL Tech.