EBIT margin of 17-17.5% sustainable – Wipro
Update on the Indian Equity Market:
On Thursday, after a volatile session the benchmark index NIFTY50 ended at 18,258 (+0.3%). Among the sectoral indices, METAL (+3.5%), PHARMA (+1.6%), and PSU BANK (+0.6%) led the gainers while REALTY (-0.7%), BANK (-0.7%), and PRIVATE BANK (-0.6%) led the laggards.
Among the NIFTY50 components, TATASTEEL (+6.3%), JSWSTEEL (+4.3%), and SUNPHARMA (+3.6%) led the gainers. WIPRO (-6.0%), ASIANPAINT (-2.4%), and HCLTECH (-1.9%) were the top losers.
Wipro recently announced 3QFY22 earnings, which were lower than street estimates. But the fourth-quarter guidance seems to provide some relief to investors.
The top management, MD & CEO Mr. Thierry Delaporte, CFO Mr. Jatin Dalal, and President and CHRO, Mr. Saurabh Govil discussed the highlights of 3QFY22 and their outlook for the upcoming quarters with CNBC-TV 18 on 13th January 2021. Following are the excerpts:
- Wipro had guided for 2-4% sequential revenue growth in constant currency term for 3Q. The company delivered 3% QoQ revenue growth. There weren’t any one-offs or client loss or massive delivery issues. This is the normal volume of business.
- The 3% sequential revenue growth is 28% YoY growth. The 3QFY22 revenue growth is the continuation of the growth seen over the last 5 quarters.
- The CEO does not expect a significant contribution to revenues from the recently concluded acquisitions of Edgile and LeanSwift.
- The reported EBIT margin was 17.6%, ahead of the guidance of 17-17.5%. The margin delivery has been despite 2 months of salary increment to 80% of its employees. The utilisation is such that there is some headroom for subsequent quarters.
- The EBIT margin band of 17-17.5% is sustainable for the company in the long term.
- The attrition for LTM was 22.7% in 3QFY22 and remains a concern industry-wide. It has taken certain measures to cope with higher levels of attrition. First, the company onboarded 10,000 plus employees every quarter and continues to onboard new people. Wipro has increased campus hiring by 70% in FY22. The company is looking at 30,000plus hiring in FY23E. Second, the company continues to laterally hire all skill sets across the globe based on demand. Some of the high-demand areas are cyber security, data, cloud, and newer areas like Salesforce. The company believes the attrition has peaked and expects to see moderate attrition going forward.
- The company closed the biggest quarter in terms of bookings in 3QFY22. It reflects Wipro’s ability to win in the market. It has the biggest pipeline it ever had as it begins 4QFY22. It has a better win rate compared to previous quarters.
- The CEO believes the clients’ budgets across industries will continue to increase. The win rate has improved by 300bps over the previous two years.
- Improvement in price realisation is seen due to the move to high-value services such as cyber security, cloud, and digital. Wipro had made investments in certain skill sets and improved visibility, for which clients are willing to invest.
Asset Multiplier Comments
- We believe revenue growth will be driven by strong demand, strong pipeline, and order book. The company’s order pipeline has a mix of small, medium, and large deals with the company seeing expansion in mid-sized deals.
- There is a massive opportunity in the cloud business over the next five years. The Company has been making investments in cloud technology. Cloud opportunity, higher offshoring, and synergies from acquired business are expected to drive profitability for Wipro in the near term.
Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)
- The closing price of Wipro was ₹ 650/- as of 13-January-2022. It traded at 30x/ 25x/ 22x the consensus earnings estimates of ₹ 22/ 26/ 29/- for FY22E/FY23E/FY24E respectively.
- The consensus target price of ₹ 703/- implies a P/E Multiple of 24x on FY24E EPS estimate of ₹ 29/-.
Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”
