Mindtree stock hits fresh 52-week high on Q4 earnings

The Mindtree stock rose in early morning trade after the Indian multinational IT and outsourcing firm reported over 87 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 182.2 crore for January-March, 2018.  The Bengaluru-based firm posted a net profit of Rs 97.2 crore in the year-ago period.

At 9:35 am, the stock was trading 3.02% or 26.20 points higher at 892.50 level on BSE.

Sentiments were buoyant on the stock with the firm saying during its Q4 earnings announcement that it expects the current fiscal to be significantly better than 2017-18.

The stock is trading above its 50-day moving average of 810.36 level and 200-day moving average of 645.65 level.

The stock hit a 52-week high of 898 level on BSE today. It hit a 52-week low of 436 level on April 20, 2017. The stock is up 102.78 percent during the last one year.

Mindtree stock closed 3.58% higher to 897.30 level on BSE.

The firm's revenue rose 11.1 per cent to Rs 1,464 crore in the January-March 2018 period from Rs 1,318.1 crore a year ago.

"We ended the year on a strong note, and seeing that momentum creating a healthy start to our new fiscal year...We expect the ongoing fiscal to be significantly better than the previous one (FY2018)," Mindtree CEO and Managing Director Rostow Ravanan said on a conference call.

In dollar terms, Mindtree's net profit surged over 95 per cent to $28.2 million, while revenue grew 15.6 per cent to $226.2 million in the quarter under review.

Asked about the deal pipeline, Ravanan said the company was very positive on the demand environment.

"We are very positive on the demand environment on the back of a very strong fourth quarter, where we saw deal wins of $300 million. Of this, $100 million was for digital. In terms of geography, US and Europe are doing well," he added.

For the year ended on March 31, 2018, the company's net profit rose 36.2 per cent to Rs 570 crore, while revenue was up 4.3 per cent to Rs 5,462.8 crore as over the previous fiscal.

Mindtree had 338 active clients as of March 31, 2018. It added 523 people during the quarter on net basis, taking its headcount to 17,723 people.

"This year, we are looking at hiring 1900 campus graduates and later hiring will be on need basis," he said.

Ravanan said the company will rolled out wage hikes with effect from April, which will have an impact of 300 basis points on the margins.

However, with increased efficiency and other levers, the company expects to more than make up for the wage impact.

With PTI inputs