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  • CMP : 4,524.0 Chg : 55.80 (1.25%)
  • Target : 2,520.0 (16.94%)
  • Target Period : 12 Month

12 Aug 2022

Board recommends bonus shares in ratio of 1:2

About The Stock

eClerx Services (eClerx) provides business process management, automation and analytics services.

  • It caters to financial services, communications, retail, media, manufacturing, travel and technology companies
  • OCF to EBITDA of >80%, debt free and RoCE of >20%
Q1FY23 Results

eClerx reported its Q1FY23 results.

  • Revenues increased 3.9% QoQ in CC terms to US$79.5 million
  • EBITDA margin declined ~400 bps QoQ to 26.7%
  • The board recommended bonus shares in the ratio of 1:2
What should Investors do?

eClerx’ share price has grown by ~1.6x over the past five years (from ~₹ 1,288 in August 2017 to ~₹ 2,155 levels in August 2022).

  • We maintain BUY rating on the stock
Target Price and Valuation

We value eClerx at ₹ 2,520 i.e. 16x P/E on FY24E EPS

Key Triggers for future price performance
  • Traction in customer care, RPA, analytics & content development, cross sell and up sell to Personiv clients to drive growth
  • Lower roll-offs, improving deal wins and revival in growth are expected to drive revenues
  • Expect dollar revenues to grow at 17.8% CAGR in FY22-24E
Alternate Stock Idea

Apart from eClerx, in our IT coverage we also like Persistent.

  • Key beneficiary of growth in digital technologies and exposure to growth segments like healthcare & BFSI
  • BUY with a target price of ₹ 4,200

Key Financial Summary

Particulars FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 5 year CAGR (FY17-22) FY23E FY24E 2 Year CAGR (FY22-FY24E)
Net sales 1,430.6 1,437.5 1,564.5 2,160.3 10.2 2,596.0 3,002.9 17.9
EBITDA 307.5 323.5 464.5 672.7 7.5 732.2 856.0 12.8
EBITDA Margin (%) 21.5 22.5 29.7 31.1 - 28.2 28.5 -
Net Profit 228.2 209.0 282.8 429.5 3.9 445.7 524.0 10.5
EPS (|) 60.0 57.3 81.3 121.6 - 133.8 157.3 -
P/E 35.9 37.6 26.5 17.7 - 16.1 13.7 -
RoNW (%) 16.5 16.0 18.8 27.4 - 25.6 27.0 -
RoCE (%) 21.5 19.9 23.3 33.6 - 33.1 35.0 -
Source: Company, ICICI Direct Research

Key takeaways of recent quarter & conference call highlights

  • Revenue in US$ term grew 3% QoQ to US$79.5 million (mn) while in rupee terms, revenue grew 4.4% QoQ to | 617.8 crore. In CC terms, the company reported growth of 3.9% QoQ
  • Geography wise North America (70% of mix) led the revenue growth by 4.1% QoQ while RoW (8% of mix) grew 4.7%. Europe region (22% of the mix) declined 0.9% QoQ. The company indicated that Europe growth in CC had been strong but in dollar terms, it was lower due to GBP depreciation against dollar during the quarter. The company indicated that the Europe market has been doing well and is expected to end the year with strong growth
  • EBITDA margin declined ~400 bps QoQ to 26.7%. The company indicated that margins for the quarter were impacted by wage hike (250-300 bps impact) and rest due to increase in travel & facility costs increase
  • The company indicated that other expenses for the quarter were higher than its normal run rate as it includes | 21.4 crore related to additional earn out payment for Personiv. The company indicated the Personiv performance has been better-than-expected so far in CY22 as it recorded strong double digit growth in Q1. As per acquisition agreement for Personiv, it had two earn outs in CY21 and CY22. The company indicated that it made a payment of US$300,000-400,000 for CY21 on earn outs while current quarter earn out payment has been made to cover up possible incremental earn outs in CY22 due to its continued strong performance
  • The company, in the last quarter, had guided at EBITDA margins band of 28-32% for FY23. It continues to maintain margin guidance band. However, it indicated that in FY23, margins would be at the lower end of the band. eClerx spelled out following reasons for the same i) due to continued attrition, the company had given higher wage hikes in this quarter to retain key talent (wage hikes in FY23 had been much higher than last two years. It also indicated 3% wage hike onsite), ii) step up costs in travelling & facility related. The company indicated that 35-40% of its work force had been working from office till now (but not all five days a week). It needs to step this up to at least 50% from October 15 this year as per government guidelines on SEZ that say that at least 50% workforce should work from office
  • Other income increased from | 9.7 crore in Q4FY22 to | 21.9 crore in Q1FY23 due to higher revaluation income due to US$/INR currency depreciation
  • Top five & Top 10 customers reported growth of 14% & 19.7% on a YoY basis, respectively. However, Top six to 10 customers continue to report strong growth as it grew 35.8% on a YoY basis. The company indicated that non top clients and emerging clients are growing at a rapid pace and likely to take care of client concentration risk
  • The company added 1,265 net new employees in the quarter taking total delivery and support staff headcount to 16,067. eClerx added 949 employees to offshore delivery, six to onshore delivery, 114 to support services & 87 to tech services. The company’s India seat count reduced by 587 to 10,582. It indicated the decline is temporary due to its facility consolidation. The company indicated that the elevated employee hiring on overall count is due to it witnessing growth across digital & financial market, investment in productised services like analytics & automation and to counter high attrition
  • The company changed its attrition reporting format from Q1FY23. It reported attrition of 29% excluding the bottom quartile. Hence, this number is not comparable to last quarter. The company indicated that the attrition for Q1FY23 as per the old reporting standard was 45% indicating that attrition still remains at elevated level. It indicated that due to higher wage hikes, it expects attrition to moderate in the coming quarters
  • The onshore revenue increased 100 bps QoQ to 21%. The company indicated that with post Covid opening up of economies, onshore business is picking up. It, however, expects the onshore and offshore mix to remain in 20% & 80%, respectively
  •  The company also indicated that it does not expects any major rolloffs as demand environment continue to be strong for its all service lines. It also indicated that in case of any macro concerns, onsite revenues (that form 21% of the mix in Q1FY23) is likely to be most vulnerable. However, it has strategically been reducing onsite dependence, which is visible from onsite revenue mix now around 20-21% from 25% few quarters back.
  • The company announced bonus shares in the ratio of 1:2 i.e. one bonus share for every two shares held by the shareholder on record date. The bonus shares would be credited within 60 days from the date of board’s approval i.e. latest by October 7, 2022
 
Variance Analysis
 
   Q1FY23   Q1FY22   YoY (%)   Q4FY22   QoQ (%)  Comments
Revenue         617.8         486.3           27.1         591.7              4.4  CC growth was 3.9% QoQ 
Employee expenses         334.1         245.4           36.1         299.6            11.5  
             
Gross Profit         283.7         240.9           17.8         292.1             (2.8)  
Gross margin (%) 45.9 49.5 -361 bps 49.4 -344 bps  
SG&A expenses         118.6           92.9           27.7         109.8              8.0  
             
EBITDA 165.1 148.0           11.6 182.3             (9.4) Margins declined due to higher employee cost (250-300 bps impact) and higher travelling & facilities cost and also provision related to Personiv earn outs due to strong performance
EBITDA Margin (%)           26.7           30.4  -370 bps            30.8 -408 bps  
Depreciation & amortisation 24.9 23.7             5.1 27.9           (10.9)  
EBIT         140.2         124.3           12.8         154.3             (9.1)  
EBIT Margin (%)           22.7           25.6  -286 bps            26.1 -338 bps  
Other income (less interest) 16.8 2.7   4.5   Other income increased due to rupee currency depreication 
PBT            157            127           23.6            159             (1.1)  
Tax paid 36.0 29.5           21.9 40.3           (10.8)  
PAT              99              91             8.6            119           (16.5)  

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