Private equity major Blackstone has reduced its stake in Mphasis by 8 per cent.
Marble II Pte Ltd, a unit owned by PE firm Blackstone, bought these shares in a bulk deal, at ₹960 a share. However, the private equity major clarified that it is committed to remain a long-term majority shareholder in Mphasis and does not intend to sell any additional stake in the company. Aberdeen, T Rowe Price and Oppenheimer bought the stake.
By selling 8 per cent, Blackstone has more than doubled its profits. In April 2016, Blackstone had bought HP’s 60.5 per cent stake in Mphasis at ₹430 a share. Now, it sold 15.6 million shares at ₹960 a share. On news of Blackstone reducing its stake by 8 per cent, Mphasis’ shares fell 3 per cent in early market trade. Later, it closed at ₹985, marginally up compared to the previous day’s close.
These developments come in the backdrop of a strong close to fiscal 2018. The company posted a 10 per cent revenue growth (in dollar terms), led by sharp growth momentum in its HP channel business. However, BFSI, a core vertical for the mid-cap IT company, which accounts for 59 per cent of total revenues, posted a moderate performance. According to Madhu Babu, Research Analyst — Institutional Equities, Prabhudas Lilladher, led by a strong exit revenue growth, US dollar revenue growth has been increased to 14.9 per cent versus 13.3 per cent as estimated earlier.
BFSI’s dollar revenues grew by 8 per cent year-on-year in FY18, while the insurance vertical revenues declined y-o-y in FY18. Revenues from DXC/HP business grew 20.6 per cent in constant currency terms, and 16.8 per cent on reported currency basis.
Also, for the fiscal 2018, Mphasis had $551 million worth of total contract value (TCV) in direct international business, of which, 83 per cent came in its new generation services business.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.