HCLTech Q2 net profit rises 21% to Rs 5,132 crore; revenue up 11.5%

HCLTech reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,132 crore for the July-September quarter, up about 21 per cent from Rs 4,235 crore a year earlier. The company announced the results on Monday.

Revenue from operations rose 11.5 per cent year on year to Rs 35,620 crore. Compared with the April-June quarter, profit grew about 11 per cent and revenue about 3 per cent.

Margins and deals

Operating profit (EBIT) came in at Rs 6,465 crore, a margin of 18.2 per cent. That was 131 basis points better than the previous quarter and 71 basis points better than a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share were Rs 70.22.

New deal wins for the quarter totalled about $3.26 billion. Management described this as a record for the first half of a financial year. The board declared a dividend of Rs 12 per share.

Segment picture

IT and business services, the largest segment, brought in Rs 26,938 crore, up from Rs 23,693 crore a year ago. Engineering and R&D services grew to Rs 5,973 crore. Revenue from HCL Software fell slightly, to Rs 2,709 crore from Rs 2,826 crore.

Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra linked the company's strategy to faster growth in revenue from advanced artificial intelligence work. CEO C Vijayakumar described it as a strong quarter.

Return on invested capital over the past twelve months was 41.2 per cent across the company, up 261 basis points from a year earlier, according to the results. The services business posted a return of 49.4 per cent. Chief Financial Officer Shiv Walia pointed to gains in capital efficiency.

Why it matters

HCLTech is one of India's largest technology employers, and its results help show how the IT sector is faring. The quarter was a difficult one for the industry. Last week, the US Labor Department suspended several large IT firms, including HCLTech, from its PERM green-card certification programme. Investors will watch closely how companies manage US immigration curbs while trying to win AI-led business.