Debasis Mohapatra
Bengaluru, 31 July 2024
Engineering services firm, Cyient cited delays in project ramp-ups, and weakness in Rail segment as reasons for posting weak Q1FY25 numbers.
However, the company management indicated that strong deal pipeline and growth recovery in core segments would lead to better revenue growth during the second half of current fiscal year.
“The major factors (that led to weak results) are unanticipated delays of projects shifting and also ramped up (to) later part of Q1. Also, rail as the sector continues to be in distress. We are seeing some of the challenges continuing for us in terms of the spend is shifting,” Karthik Natarajan, ED & CEO of Cyient has said during the post earnings analyst call.
“Having said that, there are encouraging trends and factors that gives us comfort and confidence for a very good (profit) throughout the year. We are seeing double-digit growth in order book as compared to FY24. And we are also seeing our top 10 customers (posting) significant growth (double-digit) in year-on-year terms. Also, the core segments- be it in terms of Aerospace, energy or connectivity- recovery … is very encouraging,” Natarajan added.
According to the company, as many as 4-5 projects saw project delays up to 6 weeks in the first quarter (April-June), leading to revenue decline during this period.
Revenue for the quarter stood at $200.9 million, a degrowth of 1.5% in constant currency term. Its Digital, Engineering and Technology (DET) business delivered a revenue of $169.6 million, degrowth of 5.0% Quarter-on-Quarter (Q-o-Q) in constant currency. EBIT margin of DET segment declined 250 basis points on sequential basis to 13.5% during April-June period.
“We cut target multiple to 25x (from 27x), given the sharp guidance cut within only a Quarter raising concerns on growth predictability. A big earnings miss will weigh on the near-term stock performance, but valuations remain fairly undemanding,” brokerage firm, Emkay wrote in a note.
The share price of Cyient had fallen 5.80% to Rs 1,760 in the last five trading sessions.
