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  • CMP : 1,603.7 Chg : 2.80 (0.17%)
  • Target : 4,240.0 (17.94%)
  • Target Period : 12-18 Month

28 Jul 2022

Seasonality in Other HR services impacts margins

About The Stock

TeamLease Ltd (TLL) is one of the leading providers of human resource services in the organised segment with ~6% share in flexi staffing.

  • Employment services include temporary staffing solutions, IT staffing, regulatory consultancy for labour law compliance and training & skills
  • Net debt free and healthy double digit RoCE (>14%) key positives
Q1FY23 Results

Teamlease reported weak numbers on the margin front.

  • Revenue ₹ 1,879.4 crore, up by 3.4% QoQ
  • EBITDA margin declined by 90 bps QoQ to 1.3%
  • Productivity improved to 350
What should Investors do?

Teamlease’s share price has grown ~2.8x over the past five years (from ~₹ 1298 in July 2017 to ~₹ 3,595 levels in July 2022).

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

We value Teamlease at ₹ 4240 i.e. 34x P/E on FY24E.

Key Triggers for future price performance
  • Key beneficiary of under penetrated temporary staffing market (0.5% in 2015 vs. global average of 1.7%) and formalisation (16% in 2018)
  • The pandemic has forced enterprises to shift to a variables cost structure, which is leading to increased outsourcing of flexi staffing. Hence, we expect overall revenues to increase at 18.7% CAGR in FY22-24E
  • TLL is expected to register healthy margins, mainly led by a reversal of discounts, improving of core to associate ratio, improving specialised staffing margins and higher revenue growth
Alternate Stock Idea

Apart from Teamlease, in our IT coverage we like InfoEdge.

  • Leadership in recruitment segment and quasi play on Indian start-up like Zomato, PolicyBazaar, Shoekonect, Ustra, Gramophone
  • BUY with a target price of ₹ 4,575

Key Financial Summary

Particulars FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 5 Year CAGR(FY17-FY22) FY23E FY24E 2 Year CAGR (FY22-FY24E)
Net Sales 4,447.6 5,200.7 4,881.5 6,479.8 16.3 7,812.9 9,125.1 18.7
EBITDA 94.4 95.1 98.5 142.4 30.9 171.9 245.5 31.3
EBITDA Margins (%) 2.1 1.8 2.0 2.2 - 2.2 2.7 -
Net Profit 98.0 35.0 77.5 38.4 - 146.4 213.0 -
EPS (|) 57.3 20.5 45.3 22.5 - 85.6 124.6 -
P/E (x) 62.7 175.7 79.3 159.9 - 42.0 28.9 -
RoCE (%) 18.6 15.0 14.2 15.4 - 17.6 20.8 -
RoE (%) 18.3 6.5 11.6 -4.7 - 17.4 20.4 -
Source: Company, ICICI Direct Research

Key highlights of quarter & conference call highlights

  • The company reported 3.4% QoQ, 36.5% YoY growth in revenues to | 1,879.4 crore, aided by general staffing revenues, which were up 4% QoQ to | 1,704 crores while specialised staffing revenue declined by 1.5% QoQ to | 144 crore and other HR services declined by 2.7% QoQ to | 31 crore.

 

  • EBITDA margins at the company level was down by ~90 bps QoQ to 1.3%. General staffing margins declined by ~20 bps QoQ at 1.6% while that of specialised staffing was down ~10 bps QoQ to 8.8%. Other HR services reported EBITDA margin of 0.6% for the quarter from 13.2% in Q4. Total EBITDA declined by 38.3 QoQ to | 25.3 crore

 

  • The company indicated the margin was impacted by: i) salary hike of core team with high increment in the band of 12-13% amid high competition to retain talent, ii) salary increase of associates & trainees, iii) seasonal drop in Other HR services business & iv) provision of IND AS 116 increasing the un-allocable expenses to | 14 crore (normal range | 6-7 crore) due to |3.5 crore one time impact of termination of lease agreement with one of its offices in Bengaluru, ~|1 crore on some provisions and rest is expenses related to EPFO migration related expenses. The company indicated that they expect margins to pick from Q2 onwards, however guided for similar margins in FY23 like that of FY22.

 

  • In general staffing, the management indicated that it has added 125 logos during the quarter. The productivity ratio increased marginally from 346 to 350. The company indicated that PAPM has remained in the similar levels of Q4FY22. The company added 13,610 net new associated taking the total headcounts over 2 lakhs for first time. The total headcount is now 208,260. The company indicated that it is witnessing slowdown & delayed decision making in manufacturing sector, new age tech companies due to funding freeze & layoffs. It however indicated that it is witnessing increase in open positions & demand coming back from Q2 onwards

 

  • In Degree Apprenticeship (DA), the company indicated that it started the DA program after its success in staffing. It created the program in line with the UGC. The program has 4 industry led Business Units (BU) & the company indicated that it will add 2 more BU as demand increases. The company added 31 new logos in the quarter. The headcount decreased by 4,263 due to absorption of the trainees by a large client. The company indicated this for dip in revenue is in line with the company consciously choosing to focus on higher margin & degree focused program

 

  • Specialised staffing: The company added 15 new logos in the quarter a mix of IT & non IT companies in sectors like IT, Engineering, Healthcare, Pharma & Logistics. The company indicated that it is witnessing deferment in hiring. However, it believes that the tech talent requirement boosted post covid is multiyear requirement & the demand will go from Q2 onwards. The specialised staffing headcount increased by 330 to total 9,800 during the quarter

 

  • The company indicated that it is awaiting the hearing on its petition filed for 80JJAA dispute with the Income Tax department. The company indicated that median salary of general staffing employees is around |18,000 per month while 70-80% are still below |20,000 per month.

 

  • The company indicated that it actively discussing 2 M&A opportunity of a specialized staffing & HR Tech Solutions company. The company indicated that it has cash balance of | 216 crore & it will utilize some of it for the acquisitions

 

  • The company indicated the demand scenario is expected to pick up from mid Q2 onwards. It indicated that it expecting traction as the festive season approaches in Retail sector. It also indicated that demand for IT talent is an ongoing process & it will pick up as it is witnessing open position from its clients. The company also believes the addition of new logos will boost its revenue growth in the upcoming quarters
 
 
Variance Analysis
 
 
   Q1FY23   Q1FY23E   Q1FY22   YoY (%)   Q4FY22   QoQ (%)   Comments 
Revenue 1,879.4 1,873 1,377 36.5 1,817 3.4 General staffing revenue increased by 4% while Specialized staffing decline by 1.5% & Hr services by 2.7%
Employee expenses 1,805.8 1,785 1,313 37.5 1,728 4.5  
Gross Profit 73.6 88 63 15.9 90 -17.9  
Gross margin (%) 3.9 4.7 4.6 -70 bps 4.9 -102 bps  
Other expenses 48.3 49 34 42.2 49 -0.6  
EBITDA 25.3 39 30 -14.3 41 -38.3  
EBITDA Margin (%) 1.3 2.1 2.1 -80 bps 2.3 -91 bps Salaries of core staff increased by about 12-13 while that of asssociates also increased which along with seasonality of Other HR services impacted margins
Depreciation 9.0 11 9 -2.8 11 -15.1  
EBIT 16.3 28 20 -19.5 30 -46.4  
EBIT Margin (%) 0.9 1.5 1.5 -60 bps 1.7 -81 bps  
Other income 12.3 3 5 168.6 5 163.2 High other income is due to reversal of certain provisions
PBT 28.6 31 25 15.1 35 -18.6  
Tax paid 1.4 2 0   3    
PAT 26.5 29 27 -1.5 32 -16.1  
Adjusted PAT 26.5 29 27 -1.5 29 -8.7  

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