Process management firm E-Clerx reported an operationally good second quarter. Revenue growth for the company was weak but margins expanded. Revenues in Q2 were down 1.6 percent quarter on quarter but margins were up 17 percent. Profit after tax was up 10.2 percent QoQ.

CFO Rohitash Gupta said the revenue performance for the full year would remain in the same range as first half because the offshore revenues have been under pressure and do not expect much recovery in that near-term. Quarterly offshore revenues declined by $2 million over last two years, he added.

However, with regards to margins, the company sees some strong tailwinds working in their favour. “We are working on the offshore side where we are realigning our headcount to lower revenue base as well as working on margins improvement for onshore which has been growing rapidly and gaining some mass and volumes,” said Gupta in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

However, onshore revenues have been in double-digits for the last 18-24 months and expect that momentum to continue for the rest of the year, he said, adding that he expects an upward bias in term of margins but that will be highly predicated on where we go on the offshore revenue absolute quantum from hereon.

UK Business has been only 7-8 percent of the total revenues but there has been some uncertainty over UK retail clients for a while and may continue in next few quarters, said Gupta.

He said as of September end the cash on book stood at Rs 627 crore on back of strong cash generation.

“In terms of payout we are committed to give over long-term about 50 percent of PAT to our shareholders and we will look forward to all the mechanics available when the 12 months moratorium gets over from our last buyback,” said Gupta.

The company has seen some price hikes in H1FY20 compared to no price hikes in FY18 and FY19, he said.

First Published:Nov 11, 2019 2:38 PM IST