Shares of IT firm Mindtree today soared 10 per cent after the company’s consolidated net profit rose 37.2 per cent for the December quarter. The stock jumped 9.98 per cent to close at Rs 685.65 on BSE. During the day, it zoomed 10.99 per cent to Rs 692 -- its 52-week high. On the NSE, shares of the company soared 9.49 per cent to end at Rs 684.15.

In terms of equity volume, 5.01 lakh shares of the company were traded on the BSE and over 69 lakh shares changed hands on NSE during the day.

Price-target

Morgan Stanley has double-upgraded the stock to 'overweight', The target price too has been raised to Rs 745 from Rs 560. It said MindTree's Q3 results show improving macro reflected in positive commentary on demand environment, higher velocity of deals in pipeline.

The results also demonstrate better execution on revenue growth, helped by past deal wins and strong improvement in core standalone margins, Morgan Stanley analysts added. Up to Wednesday's close, the stock had risen 29.4 per cent in 12 months.

Outlook

Mid-sized IT firm Mindtree yesterday said its consolidated net profit rose 37.2 per cent to Rs 141.5 crore for the December quarter and it expects to clock “high single-digit growth” in the ongoing fiscal. The Bengaluru-based firm had registered a net profit of Rs 103.1 crore in the year-ago period. Mindtree’s revenues grew 6.4 per cent to Rs 1,377.7 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 1,295.3 crore in the year-ago period.

“We have posted industry-leading growth this quarter and we expect Q4 growth to be similar to Q3 and Q2. On the back of this performance, we are looking at high single-digit growth for this fiscal,” Mindtree CEO and MD Rostow Ravanan said on a conference call.

He added that during the quarter, the company signed deals worth USD 244 million in total contract value, including USD 187 million in renewals.

In dollar terms, the company’s net profit grew 44.1 per cent to USD 22 million in the said quarter, while revenue was up 11.5 per cent to USD 214.3 million from the year-ago period. Talking about the demand environment, Ravanan said “We definitely see a strong traction. We see a strong pipeline.” A little over 40 per cent of the company’s revenues are now coming from Digital, he added.

Dividend: The board of directors has recommended an interim dividend of Rs 2 per equity share.

Headcount

Mindtree had a total headcount of 17,200 with trailing 12 month attrition at 12.6 per cent.

The US accounted for close to 70 per cent of Mindtree’s revenues during the quarter, while Europe and India contributed 20.9 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively.

Technology, Media and Services contributed 36.6 per cent of the company’s December revenues, while banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) accounted for 24.8 per cent and Retail, CPG and Manufacturing 23.3 per cent. Travel and Hospitality accounted for 15.3 per cent of the quarter’s revenues.

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