The first quarter results of IT companies will see subdued growth for Infosys and Wipro, while TCS and HCL Tech are expected to post better numbers.
The top four companies are expected posted average revenue growth in the range of 1-3 per cent, in the backdrop of slower uptake for outsourcing services and companies having to give out hikes to retain employees, according to analysts that Business Line spoke to.
TCS, the country’s largest software exporter, is expected to continue posting strong numbers in the range of 3-3.6 per cent, said analysts.
This growth comes on the back of continued demand for its outsourcing services, which is expected to go up by 4.2 per cent when compared to the previous quarter.
An IDFC Securities analyst expects no major change in business commentary, with TCS likely to be upbeat, HCL Technologies optimistic and the rest cautiously optimistic.
Infosys & Wipro
Meanwhile, Infosys, which kicks off the results on July 12, is expected to post a growth of 1.7 per cent in revenues but bigger questions remain around whether the company will revise its growth outlook downwards for the rest of the fiscal and want to see more details into the kind of changes that N.R. Narayana Murthy wants to make.
“We are already seeing flexibility in pricing to win more deals in commoditised services like software maintenance,” said Daljeet Kohli, Head of Research, Indianivesh Securities.
Wipro is expected to post revenues of 0.5 per cent over the previous quarter, which meets the low end of its guidance that it had given in the fourth quarter of 2013 fiscal.
Rupee impact
The volatile movement of the rupee is bound to be a party pooper in the numbers of almost all the biggies, with most of them hedging their revenues at 54.4 against the dollar, according to analysts.
The rupee has hit an all-time low against the dollar and stands at 60.22 at the end of trading today.
According to Kohli, TCS is expected to post forex losses of Rs 300 crore, Infosys Rs 33.5 crore and Wipro Rs 115.8 crore in the first quarter.
Mid-size companies
The performance of mid-size companies is somewhat similar to large-size companies with Tech Mahindra expected to report flat revenues.
However, amongst the mid-size companies, KPIT Cummins is expected to post revenues in excess of 3 per cent and forex gain of Rs 5.3 crore.