Happiest Minds March qtr net up 580%, firm offers double-digit pay hikes

Revenue up 18% to Rs 186 cr; profit was lower sequentially

IT firm Happiest Minds Technologies on Thursday reported consolidated net profit at Rs 36.05 crore in the March 2021 quarter, a rise of 580.2 per cent from the same period last year. Its revenue was at Rs 220.71 crore in the quarter under review, up 18.4 per cent from Rs 186.35 crore in the year-ago period.

The firm said it sees a strong year of growth ahead, focusing on delivering the 20 per cent organic growth it indicated at the time of its initial public offering last year. It is also bullish on the opportunities in the educational technology (EduTech), retail and hi-tech verticals. The firm also announced double-digit raises on average this quarter, which will begin rolling out in the next quarter.
 

On a quarter-on-quarter basis the net profit fell 14.5 per cent, from Rs 42.15 crore in the December 2020 quarter. Venkatraman Narayanan, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer attributed the fall to Q3 having "abnormally high" results.
 

EduTech is Happiest Minds' largest vertical. Last year saw opportunity in the area as remote learning became a necessity for educational institutions globally, and this year, the opportunity is in helping clients build hybrid learning models.  "As more students get into online learning degrees, it is resulting in online program managers. The universities are increasingly partnering with them to reach out to a higher number of students," said Joseph Anantharaju, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO – Product Engineering Services (PES), Happiest Minds Technologies.
 

With schools in the K12 segment, clients are looking at online and supporting hybrid learning. Also with colleges likely opening up in markets like the US, another area Happiest Minds is working with clients on is how to use IoT (Internet of things) based techniques to track vaccination and social distancing. Retail is pushing towards e-commerce and greater personalisation, while customers in the hi tech space are looking at open sourcing so  they can reduce their license cost, Anantharaju added.
 

The company had 173 clients as of March 31, 2021 with addition of 23 new customers during the quarter. Its headcount was at 3,228 people, with trailing 12 months attrition at 12.4 per cent.
 

Narayanan told Business Standard that the firm added nine new billion dollar clients during the quarter. Among geographies, he said Middle East and Australia grew well.
 

"Attrition is lower and utilisation is higher, and the demand situation is very good. We also had to get into the next phase of addressing people's aspirations in terms of compensation increase so that's something that has happened in this quarter. So we can factor that cost from starting this quarter, even though payments are due from next quarter," he said.
 

He added that on average, Happiest Minds rolled out hikes in double digit percentages across the company.