IT services major HCL Technologies saw its net profit go up by 18.5% in the June-September quarter, with net profit at Rs 3,142 crore. Its revenue was up 6.1%. to Rs 18,594 crore, up from Rs 17,528 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
HCL Tech also announced that it will be hiking salaries from October for junior employees, and from January 2021 for senior employees, and is looking to hire “significantly” over the next three months. The quantum of the hike will be the same as what was given last year.
Sequentially, HCL’s net profit was up 7.4%. In the second quarter, HCL recorded revenue growth of 4.5% quarter-on-quarter in constant currency terms, beating estimates.
HCL’s Human Resources Officer Apparao VV said that they expect a lot of recruitments to take place before December, which will be both freshers and lateral hires. The company is reportedly looking at 12,000 new freshers by March 2021.
In its guidance, HCL said that revenue quarter-on-quarter was expected to grow by 1.5-2.5% in the next two quarters.
“We have delivered a stellar Q2 performance with a sequential revenue growth of 4.5% in constant currency and 21.6% EBIT margin,” said C Vijayakumar, President & CEO.
“Our investments over the last few years in next-gen technologies have held us in good stead during these difficult times and position us strongly to leverage the emerging market opportunities,” he added.
Vijayakumar added that said that the deal pipeline was at an all-time high.
The Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of Rs 4 per equity share for the financial year 2020-21.
As of the September quarter, HCL had 1,53,085 employees, while attrition for IT services was at 12.2%. HCL also said that 96% of its employees are working from home and that it has implemented several employee initiatives over the pandemic, including increasing medical coverage for its employees.
Shiv Nadar, Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Technologies Ltd, said, “These unprecedented times and the volatile global business environment have changed the way organizations operate. Enterprises are accelerating the adoption of technology and sharpening their focus on being resilient and better prepared for unpredictable situations. As businesses rethink, redefine and refine their ways of working, it has become imperative for them to adopt sustainable practices that complement their agile business models. We believe that business has a collective social responsibility to ensure that stakeholders have every advantage to succeed. At HCL, we are committed to ensuring the socio-economic development of the communities we engage with around the world,” he said.
Shares of HCL Technologies on Friday declined over 4% in early trade. While the stock opened with gains on the BSE, it tanked 4.47% to Rs 821 as the trade progressed. At the time of writing, it was down 3.77% and was trading at Rs 827.55.