TechM clocks 6.57% net profit growth to ₹798.6 cr

Fifth largest software exporter Tech Mahindra on Monday reported a 6.57 per cent rise in net profit in the three months ended June at Rs 798.6 crore, primarily aided by growth in non-core income.

The Mahindra group company's revenue from services grew 5.99 per cent to Rs 7,336 crore, while the other income grew 67 per cent to Rs 410 crore.

The other income growth was on the back of a $20-million gains on its hedges and $9 million benefit from sale of an excess land parcel in Pune, chief financial officer Milind Kulkarni told reporters.

Managing director and CEO C P Gurnani, who is the highest paid CEO in the country with over Rs 150 crore in total payouts, including Esops, said the company has started moving on a path of improvement in profit and revenue through work on operational metrics, getting out of "blue collared network business" and reskilling its workforce.

The company, which made headlines after a fired employee went public with his conversation with the HR, saw a reduction in its headcount by 1,713 in the three months to June to 1.15 lakh, which includes a reduction of 3,407 software professionals and addition of 1,908 BPO hands.

Gurnani said the acquisition of US-based IT services company HCI Group, which got completed on May 4, helped add over 700 employees to the total strength.

Declining to give a guidance on its hiring plans, Gurnani said, "I can only tell you it is a continuous exercise. Ultimately, optimisation of the workforce, hiring and reskilling is an integral part of the business." TechM will be hiring 2,000 engineers in the US, which is its largest market, over the next few months.