Nasscom pares full-fiscal IT export growth forecast by 8-10%

Software association Nasscom on Wednesday lowered IT export growth target to 8-10 per cent for 2016-17 amid global macroeconomic headwinds and the fallout of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

At the start of the year, Nasscom had projected 10-12 per cent growth rate for Indian software services, including the business process management, for the current fiscal.

Global uncertainties like Brexit, post US election dynamics, currency volatility and slowdown in BFSI discretionary spend are all impacting growth, Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said, adding that the short-term political and economic uncertainties could last over the next two quarters.

Nasscom expects the incremental revenue addition to be between USD 8-10 billion in 2016-17, against USD 10 billion in 2015-16.

Earlier this month, Chandrashekhar had told PTI that “a revision is clearly on the cards and it will be downwards”.

Industry watchers had anticipated the growth rate to be lower by 1-2 percentage points after muted earnings from Indian IT companies.

The export revenue growth (in constant currency) stood at 12.3 per cent in 2015-16.

Last month, Wipro registered a drop in second quarter net profit and warned that revenues in the October-December quarter could be impacted by a “mixed demand environment”.

Wipro’s third quarter guidance of 0-2 per cent sequential growth reflected sentiment similar to that of larger rivals, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys.

TCS and Infosys posted muted growth numbers for the second quarter as well and said they are witnessing softness in the banking and financial services sector and client spending.

Infosys, in fact, slashed its annual revenue guidance for the second time this year to 8-9 per cent.