Key highlights from Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) Q1 FY23 Earnings Concall
Management Update:
- TCS said its LTM attrition in IT services was at 19.7% for the quarter, and expects it to rise further in Q2.
Q&A Highlights:
- Ankur Rudra of JP Morgan enquired about margin headwinds in June vs. April with respect to puts and takes and outlook for rest of year. Rajesh Gopinathan CEO said it’s nothing different. The two things playing there is the wage increase and the continuing demand and attrition environment. Attrition is expected to continue for few more months.
- Sandip Agarwal with Edelweiss asked about reason for subcon numbers jumping significantly QonQ. Rajesh Gopinathan CEO replied that it’s due to attrition and supply constraints in some of the local markets. TCS is keeping a close watch and will react depending on the supply demand situation.
- Kumar Rakesh from BNP Paribas asked about the progress on the pressure hiring target of about 40,000 in FY23. Rajesh Gopinathan CEO replied that the company is on track for that and progressing well on it.
- Gaurav Rateria of Morgan Stanley asked about the UK market slowing down YoY. N. Ganapathy Subramaniam COO replied that in UK there has been some concerns about increased cost of living. Overall, customers across TCS’ verticals has not expressed anything of concern for TCS at the moment.
- Gaurav Rateria of Morgan Stanley enquired if margins could remain a tad lower than 25% as it will take some bit of progression to come to 25% over the coming quarters. Samir Seksaria CFO clarified that Q1 margins are subdued as usual. TCS’ target will be to reach and cross 25% as far as possible.
- Gaurav Rateria of Morgan Stanley also asked about any change in expectation w.r.t price/realization improvements as part of client conversations. Rajesh Gopinathan CEO said it continues to be positive rather than large scale contract level changes, TCS is seeing more pointed ones on existing contracts and newer contract getting some uplift.
- Ravi Menon of Macquarie asked if TCS is seeing any soft spots in any verticals that is seeing a planned shift towards more efficiency-oriented programs. Rajesh Gopinathan CEO replied that TCS is not seeing much from a vertical perspective. It’s fairly balanced across verticals.
- Debashish Mazumdar from B&K Securities asked about the trajectory of controlling attrition, and if TCS is little behind the curve as compared to others. Rajesh Gopinathan CEO answered that its employee rewards program is much more holistic and the company is confident about where it is. TCS expects attrition to taper off in the next 3-4 months.
- Dipesh Mehta of Emkay asked about fresher hiring plans for FY24. N. Ganapathy Subramaniam COO said that typically TCS start the base at 40,000. Next year is likely to be the same if the demand situation continues.
- Dipesh Mehta of Emkay also asked about deal pipeline, if TCS is seeing any changes. N. Ganapathy Subramaniam COO said the company is not seeing any major deviation or abnormalities in its deal pipeline. TCS added that on a book to bill ratio of 1.2 it’s in good position.
- Dipesh Mehta of Emkay enquired about the salary hike percentage for on-site employees in 1Q23. N. Ganapathy Subramaniam COO replied that on average it’s about 4-5%. TCS added that increments have been for some of the top performers and the potential earn outs has been quite high based on their performance.
- Apurva Prasad from HDFC Securities asked if the company is seeing any pricing challenges. Rajesh Gopinathan CEO said the conversations on pricing are picking up momentum rather than losing.