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<keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> CEO <keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vishal-Sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword> has assured stakeholders that the company will remain "differentiated and iconic" like always, adding that the IT major will improve and move ahead despite challenges. Sikka wrote a letter to shareholders, saying that the company will leverage its full potential so that employment opportunities can be shaped up at a time when there is an anxiety for jobs worldwide. "We can be the next generation services company, as differentiated and iconic as we once were, a company that admires its past and builds on it, or we can be a somewhat improved, but dying, previous generation company that is mired in the past," he said at the company's annual report for fiscal 2017. The shareholders will get to see the annual report for approval at the 36th Annual General Meeting to be held on June 24, 2017. Talking about the company's efforts to tide over challenges that have surfaced on multiple fronts, Sikka said, "It is within us to embrace the tough choices and to move headlong, unabashedly, into creating great new features. Our work in these early years of our transformation leading us along this path. It will continue to be a challenging journey, but it is one worth fighting for." On the global jobs environment, he said, "The ones who leverage technology to fulfil our own unlimited potential, and help others find theirs as well, to shape a better world at a time of pervasive global anxiety about the future of jobs and indeed the future of our humanity."

Infosys will move ahead despite industry challenges, CEO assures stakeholders

<keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> CEO <keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vishal-Sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword> conceded that the company’s performance was below expectations in FY15 but said that it was on track for better performance this year, during the 34 th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company. 
 
"I think we still have a long way to go. My sense is that by next year in FY17, we will get to industry-leading growth," Sikka told reporters. 
 Meanwhile, NR <keyword id="6355623" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narayana-Murthy">Narayana Murthy</keyword> lauded Sikka for his stewardship of Infosys as its first nonfounder CEO, and ruled out another encore by returning to a company he founded with six others in 1981. 
 
"I wish (Sikka) the best for the future. I'm extremely happy and I think he's a great leader. He has aspirational targets. We should all support him, we should all pray that he succeeds," said Murthy on the sidelines of the AGM. 
Sikka, who took charge on August 1 last year reiterated that Infosys should return to industry-leading growth rates during the next financial year. 
 
Former CEO and chairman Murthy, who for the first time in the history of the company attended the shareholder meeting as just a stakeholder in Infosys also praised the current leadership team of the company. 
 
"There's absolutely no doubt everybody there on the podium is smart, dedicated - they're working hard. They want the best for Infosys and therefore we are all 100% with them," he said. 
 
Economic Times reported that prior to Sikka's appointment, Murthy undertook a massive organisational overhaul at Infosys as part of his turnaround plan for the company. The overhaul led to the departure of more than a dozen toplevel executives. He added that he had no plans of returning to Infosys nor was there any need for him to. 
 
"The reality is that today we have a very good set of people running the company -- they should run the company, we should all support them, we should cheer them from outside, so there's no need for anybody from outside to get back into Infosys," said Murthy. 
 
Meanwhile, Sikka also brushed away concerns over the H1B visa issue and said that the company was fully compliant with US laws. 
"We're not worried about that (H1B issue) - I'm a US citizen. We have an impregnable compliance to these regulations and we're absolutely committed. We carry that responsibility extremely seriously and I know other companies in the industry do so as well," said Sikka. 
 
Newly-appointed non-executive chairman R Seshasayee, who succeeds KV Kamath in the role, referred to Murthy as the "Bhishma Pitamah" of Infosys and said that Infosys would continue to seek Murthy's counsel and guidance on important issues as and when required. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Here’s what happened at the Infosys’ AGM

<keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> is all set to get a new Chairman in place of <keyword id="396965" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="KV-Kamath">KV Kamath</keyword>, who is taking over the new role as president of BRICS Bank. 
 
On the condition of anonymity, two people familiar with the development said that while Infosys would evaluate external and internal candidates to replace Kamath, it was expected that the conglomerate would name board member R Seshasayee as interim non-executive chairman. 
 
They added that name of the successor would be finalised within two to three weeks. 
 
Economic Times first reported that Infosys had begun hunting for its next chairman and may appoint either Seshasayee, executive vice chairman at Ashok Leyland, or former Microsoft India chairman Ravi Venkatesan as interim chairman to oversee the transition. 
 
Seshasayee, who started his career with Hindustan Lever in 1971 and joined Ashok Leyland in 1976, joined Infosys' board in 2011. He became executive director of Ashok Leyland in 1983 and managing director in 1998. He has also been the chairman of IndusInd Bank since 2007. 
 
"Seshasayee is the most likely candidate to be selected as interim non-executive chairman, given his experience and the fact that he is among the senior-most people on the board," one of the sources told ET. 
 
The person added that it was likely that Infosys would opt for an interim non-executive chairman for now. “Ideally the company would like to have a chairman in place before the AGM (on June 22)," this person said. 
 
Infosys' nominations committee, which identifies and evaluates candidates for various director positions, has the authority to identify and evaluate candidates to replace Kamath. 
 
Besides Kamath, the committee includes board veteran Jeffrey Sean Lehman, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Seshasayee. Technically, a member of the nominations committee can be considered for the position of chairman, the sources said. 
 
Sources told the financial daily that chief executive Vishal Sikka along with Kamath will also explore appointing an external candidate as the next chairman. 
 "Infosys ideally wants the next chairman to have a profile similar to founder NR <keyword id="6355623" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Narayana-Murthy">Narayana Murthy</keyword> or Kamath. That person could come either from within the board or outside Infosys," the second source told ET. 
 
Kamath helped ICICI Bank become a savvy, next-generation lender. He first replaced Murthy as Infosys' chairman in August 2011 and played a vital role in succession planning at the company. 
 
"Infosys needs (a chairman) with experience in institution building. Right now the company is undergoing a serious transition and a lot of changes are taking place under the new CEO. So Infosys needs to pick someone who can be a good sounding board to Sikka," Kavil Ramachandran, executive director, Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at the Indian School of Business, told ET. 
 
Ramachandran said it should ideally be someone who Sikka respects and will not be seen a roadblock and also who knows the company well and values the ethos of the founders. 
 
During past five years, Infosys’ chairmanship changed as many as four times. Following two lacklustre years under co-founder SD Shibulal, the company's board brought back Murthy as executive chairman in June 2013 and Kamath moved out of his non-executive role. 
 
After the company appointed Sikka as its first non-founder CEO in August 2014, Murthy stepped down from his executive chairman role and Kamath took over again. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Seshasayee likely to be interim chairman while search for Kamath’s successor continues

<keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> has hived off its products, platforms and solutions (PPS) business into a fully owned subsidiary called <keyword id="2237108" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Edgeverve">Edgeverve</keyword> Systems. The company’s board has allowed it to implement a business transfer accord with Edgeverve, along with related documents, subject to securing the required consent from the shareholders at the annual general meeting (AGM), to be held on June 14 this year. 
 "Edgeverve was created to focus on developing and selling products and platforms," said a filing with the <keyword id="108474" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="US-Securities-and-Exchange-Commission">US Securities and Exchange Commission</keyword> (SEC). 
 
Edgeverve is the 39th subsidiary of Infosys and was incorporated on February 14, 2014. For some time now, Infosys has been holding discussions on whether to keep PPS, which contributes 5.2% of Infosys' $8.2 billion revenues, within the conventional IT services business or to make it a separate entity. In PPS, it has to envisage market demand and create products and platforms in anticipation of the demand. 
 
"I think that the spin-off is an excellent strategy. The platform company is quite different; it has a different business model, supported by a different people model, a separate sales strategy and investment rhythm. Furthermore, it allows the service company to focus on its core business without the distraction of learning a different business," said Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of the IT research firm Everest Group. 
 
Ray Wang, CEO of US-based IT research firm Constellation Research, said, "Product organisations have to build once and scale to many users. Service organisations deliver for one user and can easily make one-offs." 
 
Infosys’ vision, under its 3.0 strategy, has been to lift the contribution of PPS to 33%, but it has failed in its endeavour. On the contrary, contribution from PPS declined to 5.2% in the financial year 2013-14, from 5.7% in 2012-13. 
 When the company’s co-founder NR <keyword id="6355623" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narayana-Murthy">Narayana Murthy</keyword> returned as the executive chairman in 2013, he brought the emphasis back on the business of application development and maintenance.

Infosys Spins Off Products Business Into
Separate Unit

<ul><li>The demerger of <keyword id="15323576" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jio-financial-services" source="Orion">Jio Financial Services</keyword> (JFS) in the coming months and listing on the stock exchanges is a ‘key moment’ for the Reliance Industries’ stock. </li><li>The JFS demerger is expected to act as a catalyst that the parent Reliance Industries was missing, which is evident from the sagging stock price. </li><li>JFS’ entry could also prove to be a challenge to existing players in the space like Bajaj Finance, Paytm and PhonePe, and a successful take off could also result in attrition at banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFC).</li></ul>The <keyword id="17044379" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="demerger-of-jio" source="Orion">demerger of Jio</keyword> Financial Services (JFS) in the coming months and listing on the stock exchanges is a ‘key moment’ for the Reliance Industries’ stock, according to analysts at Nomura. Strong fundamentals and business outlook aside, shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) have gone nowhere since March last year. After hitting a fresh 52-week low in March this year, RIL shares are still down over 10% in 2023. The JFS demerger could be just what the parent’s shares need – value unlocking. The JFS demerger is expected to act as a catalyst that the parent Reliance Industries has been missing. “The listing and value unlocking from RIL’s financial services business in the coming months will be a key event for the stock,” said Nomura in its latest note, adding that the decline in Reliance’s shares is due to “index-related sell-off”. According to the terms of the demerger announced in October last year, all existing shareholders of Reliance Industries will get one share in JFS for each share held in the parent company. The company has now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/ril-calls-for-shareholder-creditor-meeting-to-approve-demerger-of-financial-services-arm/articleshow/99116790.cms">called</a> for a meeting of creditors and shareholders on May 2 for the requisite approvals. JFS is expected to list in September this year. “As JFS scales up, it can drive value unlocking given higher multiples for peers in these industries,” Nomura said. Jefferies has pegged the valuation of JFS in the range of ₹90,000 crore to ₹1.5 lakh crore, with each share of JFS valued at ₹179 in the brokerage’s base case scenario. Demerger to help JFS ‘dominate’ the industry Looking beyond the benefits for RIL’s shares, the JFS demerger will also help the financial services business attract investors and challenge existing players in the sector like Bajaj Finance and Paytm. “The demerger would help the financial services business to attract different sets of investors, strategic partners and lenders having specific interests in the financial services business,” Nomura added. Analysts at Jefferies underlined that JFS would be able to leverage the large distribution network, customer base and deep pockets of Reliance to take on existing players like Bajaj Finance, Paytm and PhonePe, among others. It will also allow JFS to emerge as the fifth largest financial services company in terms of net worth. Reliance has already made several moves to give JFS the best possible start – this includes bringing in KV Kamath, the former non-executive chairman of ICICI Bank, as its chairman. Subsequently, Kamath hired a former ICICI Bank talent, Manish Singh, to help him build a team as JFS draws closer to launch. Analysts are already watching for attrition at banks and non-banking financial companies or NBFCs. JFS to focus on consumers and merchants Leveraging Reliance’s wide reach in consumer and retail segments thanks to Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail, JFS is expected to focus on consumers and merchants as it kicks off its innings post the demerger. “JFS' key advantage will be low funding cost/ better access on the back of the group's high credit rating and ownership of 6.1% stake in RIL,” said Jefferies. Reliance’s retail arm reported<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/reliance-retails-q3-net-profit-up-6-2-at-2400-crore-finance-costs-depreciation-weigh/articleshow/97179758.cms"> 201 million footfalls</a> across its network of 17,225 stores in Q3, which is an increase of nearly 26% year-on-year. Its telecom arm, Reliance Jio, has been the market leader for several months now, with a total subscriber base of 426 million as of January 2023. This gives JFS a strong pool of consumers to dip into. The recent acquisition of<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/reliance-retail-to-acquire-wholesaler-metro-cash-carry-for-2850-crore/articleshow/96415905.cms"> Metro Cash &amp; Carry</a> will also give the company access to 3 million merchants, of which 1 million are frequent buyers. Upcoming Reliance AGM could lay down the blueprint of JFS strategy Reliance is expected to lay down the blueprint of its JFS strategy in detail at its upcoming annual general meeting (AGM), likely in August. This is ahead of the expected listing of JFS in September this year. “While significant efforts are needed to scale the financials business, given RIL’s robust execution, capacity to invest, industry-leading retail infrastructure and leading market share across the retail and telecom industry, it appears likely that RIL will dominate the industry,” said the analysts at Nomura, expressing their optimistic outlook. On the whole, analysts are bullish overall on RIL’s prospects and the JFS demerger, which has earned the company a stock price upgrade from analysts at Jefferies – to ₹3,100 from ₹3,060 earlier. Analysts at Nomura have given a target price of ₹2,850. The recent price correction has also prompted the analysts at JP Morgan to say that this is an<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/reliance-shares-down-22-from-all-time-high-attractive-entry-opportunity-says-jp-morgan/articleshow/98725589.cms"> “attractive entry opportunity”</a>. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/reliance-shares-down-22-from-all-time-high-attractive-entry-opportunity-says-jp-morgan/articleshow/98725589.cms">Reliance shares down 22% from all-time high: Attractive entry opportunity, says JP Morgan</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/loan-growth-showing-signs-of-reversal-from-cyclical-highs-but-asset-quality-to-remain-healthy/articleshow/99245377.cms">Loan growth showing signs of reversal from cyclical highs, but asset quality to remain healthy</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-infosys-hcl-tech-amongst-top-picks-of-analysts-heading-into-the-q4-earnings-season/articleshow/99235686.cms">TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech amongst top picks of analysts heading into the Q4 earnings season</a>

Jio Financial Services demerger and listing a ‘key moment’ for Reliance stock

<ul><li>Wipro reported that it added 7,000 employees to the company over the last three months during its first-quarter earnings call. </li><li>Saurabh Govil, Wipro’s Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), said the company will continue hiring in Q2. </li><li>Even though Wipro doubled its hiring in 2019-20, its net addition of employees was in the red suggesting low attrition. </li></ul>Wipro has hired new 7,000 employees in the last three months, their first quarter, between April to June. And, they plan to keep on hiring, according to Wipro’s Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Saurabh Govil. This comes in the backdrop Wipro reporting the largest decline in employees during the last quarter in comparison to its peers Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and other Indian IT services companies.“Lateral hiring never stopped,” said Govil during the first-quarter earnings call. “We will continue to hire in Q2 based on demand,” he added. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="76960126" title="Wipro management pins hope on wider margin and new clients while revenue takes a dip" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Govil added that the company has started on-boarding freshers as per earlier offers. “It would be staggered and delayed based on business requirements,” he said. Even last quarter, Govil asserted that hiring would not be suspended at Wipro in lieu of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the company did not rule out furloughs and leaves at the time. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75173292" title="Wipro's hiring will be slower in the coming months and current employees may be asked to go on leave without pay" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Wipro in comparison to top Indian IT companies Indian IT services companies have been pushing on fresh hiring as the industry’s attrition rate continues to remain flat. Despite new hires being on the rise, companies across the board reported a dip in total employees. Even Wipro doubled its hiring in 2019-20, however, its total employee count was lower than the year before. Even its net addition of new employees has been the lowest in comparison to TCS and Infosys. While TCS’ numbers were in the ten-thousands, Wipro was still in single digits if not bleeding employees. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75669358" title="Hiring at Infosys and Tech Mahindra is down at least 40% in line with the trend in top five IT firms⁠— and it's not just because of COVID-19" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Last quarter, while Infosys also reported a dip in employees, Wipro’s drop in net addition was four times higher. <div type="image" title="Hiring IT" msid="76972636" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Hiring across top 3 Indian IT services companies&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Even though Wipro plans to keep hiring in the coming quarter, Govil pointed out that all hiring will happen depending on demand. Its utilisation levels this quarter also stood at 75% — 1.6% higher than the previous quarter. According to Wipro Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Jatin Dalal, higher utilisation was one of the factors behind Wipro’s margin expansion this quarter. “We also kept a tight watch on incremental spend… Third is foreign exchange,” he said. Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji disclosed that the company hasn’t laid off a single employee during the coronavirus pandemic during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday. The National Information Technology Senate (NITES) has alleged in May that Wipro was benching many employees, mainly those at its Pune office, who were subsequently laid off. A claim that Wipro denies. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/hiring-at-infosys-and-tech-mahindra-is-down-40-in-line-with-the-trend-in-top-five-it-firms-and-its-not-just-because-of-covid-19/articleshow/75669358.cms">Hiring at Infosys and Tech Mahindra is down at least 40% in line with the trend in top five IT firms⁠— and it's not just because of COVID-19</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/tcs-hiring-again-with-5-employees-to-return-to-offices/articleshow/76887172.cms">TCS to kickstart lateral hiring and bring back 5% of its employees to offices</a>

After last quarter’s massive dip, Wipro adds 7,000 employees with plans to continue hiring in Q2

<ul><li>The National Association of Software and Service Companies (<keyword id="6372077" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="nasscom">NASSCOM</keyword>) is urging the US administration to shorten the duration of <keyword id="6358066" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="h-1b-visa">H-1B visa</keyword> suspension to 90 days.</li><li>It believes that US President <keyword id="6354484" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Donald-Trump">Donald Trump</keyword>’s extension of the H-1B visa freeze is “misguided and harmful” for the US economy keeping companies from accessing the talent they need from overseas.</li><li>However, India IT giant <keyword id="43217" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tech-Mahindra">Tech Mahindra</keyword> doesn’t believe that Trump’s visa freeze will have much of an impact on the company in the near or medium term. </li></ul>The nodal Indian tech lobby, the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), has urged the US government to shorten the duration of the H-1B visa suspension to 90 days and to rethink US President Donald Trump’s stated plans to change laws to restrict immigration and increase the cost of the visa. NASSCOM — which represents Indian IT services giants like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, and HCL Tech — believes that Trump’s extension of the H-1B visa freeze will be “misguided and harmful” keeping companies from accessing the talent they need from overseas. The Trump administration ruled that H-1Bs or L-1s, as well as other visa types, will not be allowed to enter the United States after June 23, with very few exceptions, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/trump-signs-a-proclamation-halting-h1b-work-visas-and-other-temporary-visas/articleshow/76520775.cms">until the end of the year</a>. “Lengthening these burdensome restrictions on U.S. companies that are trying to recover from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic will only serve to harm our economy,” it said in a statement. “Study after study from the Federal Reserve, National Academy of Sciences, General Accounting Office, National Foundation for American Progress, Pew Research Center, CATO, Brookings Foundation, PPI, top academics, business groups and others all reveal the immeasurable value nonimmigrants have and will bring to America,” the NASSCOM statement added. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="76522530" title="Google’s Sundar Pichai, Facebook and Amazon — here’s how American companies reacted to Donald Trump’s H1-B visa freeze" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Indian IT firms, like Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and others have been increasing their local workforce in the US over the last few years as denial rate of initial employment has been in an upwards trajectory. <div type="image" title="h1b (4)" msid="76524580" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Denial of initial employment&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> And therefore, the Indian IT majors have increased local hiring in US in recent years.“From a near or medium-term perspective, we don’t see much of an impact because of the current situation and travel restrictions,” Tech Mahindra CFO, Manoj Bhat told Business Insider in a statement. "Since April of 2017, we have hired about 9,100 people as of March 2019. This has actually helped us in strengthening our business model and becoming less dependent on visas for talent or ability," said Infosys COO UB Pravin Rao during the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) last year. Wipro, in its annual report, pointed out that its local employee base in the US has hit nearly 70% in 2020. The North American country is its largest market contributing nearly 59.1% to the company’s total revenue. TCS, on the other hand, hasn’t disclosed how many employees it has hired in the US but experts estimate that it’s close to 40,000 of its total headcount of 448,464 people. “The numbers are substantial and it has gone up year-on-year…In last few years, TCS has created more than 20,000 jobs in the US," Milind Lakkad, global head of HR at TCS told <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/tcs-continues-localisation-in-us-to-hire-1-500-employees-by-this-fiscal-11576119389690.html">LiveMint</a> in December 2019. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/googles-sundar-pichai-facebook-and-amazon-heres-how-american-companies-reacted-to-donald-trumps-h1-b-visa-freeze/articleshow/76522530.cms">Google’s Sundar Pichai, Facebook and Amazon — here’s how American companies reacted to Donald Trump’s H1-B visa freeze</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/trump-signs-a-proclamation-halting-h1b-work-visas-and-other-temporary-visas/articleshow/76520775.cms">Trump signs a proclamation halting H-1B work visas and other temporary visas</a>

Donald Trump's H-1B visa ban incites a sharp reaction from India's tech lobby

<ul><li>Given the size and scale of its portfolio, <keyword id="6367820" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="adani-group" source="Orion">Adani Group</keyword> is targeting a group valuation of $1 trillion.</li><li>Adani Group will play to its strengths and focus on its core verticals – mining, infrastructure and utilities. Businesses that fit well into the group’s overarching superstructure will become adjacencies like cement, copper and aluminum. </li><li>Adani Enterprises will continue to be the group’s incubator that currently houses new businesses. The Group is looking to hive off some of these new businesses like new energy, airports and roads over the next 2-4 years.</li></ul> The Adani Group’s market capitalisation has been the subject of much conversation in recent times, as the returns have taken many by surprise and propelled <keyword id="111343" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="gautam-adani" source="Orion">Gautam Adani</keyword> to the third spot on the list of the world’s richest people. The value of the group’s listed entities have zoomed from $16 bn in 2015 to $240 bn in 2022, but billionaire Gautam Adani’s ambition is to take his group’s value to $1 trillion. All the pieces of this strategy were put in place back in 2015. On 10 October, the group’s Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder ‘Robbie’ Singh, narrated an incident outlining the group’s gambit to a roomful of high networth individuals in New Delhi. He said: “Whatever you see today, it might look like it has just happened in the last one or two years, but in reality what we have done – both GSA (Gautam Shantilal Adani) and myself – we discussed this in 2015. When the discussion happened, the group’s market cap was around $16 bn in 2015. Given what we had as a set of companies, we believed that if we had assets and companies of that type we should really be a $1 trillion group. So we went through the steps that we needed to take to get to the point.” <div type="image" title="Jugeshinder ‘Robbie’ Singh, Chief Financial Officer, Adani Group" msid="94857724" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Jugeshinder &amp;#8216;Robbie&amp;#8217; Singh, Chief Financial Officer, Adani Group&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Since then, the Adani Group has set about building its infrastructure and logistics portfolio in a manner that it could emerge as the top five globally and not just India’s largest player. To achieve this goal, Singh said they took steps to transform the very way the group functioned at every level. “We came to the conclusion that a lot of the steps could be executed, When we concluded that we could (execute) these steps, both of us knew at the stage that if we didn’t achieve this, at least two people – Gautam Adani and me – would know we failed,” he added. Building It Brick By Brick While market experts have at times questioned the Group’s foray into cement, the Group is clear that it will play to its strengths and focus on its core – mining, infrastructure and utilities. And businesses that fit well into the group’s overarching superstructure will become adjacencies. Given that power and logistics are the largest components of any metals and materials business, the group has seen it fit to enter copper, aluminum and cement businesses. Power continues to be core to the Group’s future growth plans. And to this end, Adani Green is redefining the future of renewable energy. In 2020, Adani Green became the largest solar company in the world. Adani New Industries, which is currently within Adani Enterprises, will focus on the Group’s foray into the new energy business. Singh went on to explain to investors that for the first time in India’s history, a portfolio of a group has emerged that is the world’s top five in the entire sector. He said: “If you take the infrastructure portfolio of the Adani Group, then the core is among the top 5 in the world. If you take Adani Green, Adani Ports, Adani Total, Adani Transmission and Adani Power are in total among the world’s top five infra portfolios. It is the fastest growing portfolio. Our primary industry vertical materials, metal and mining again sits next to our core infra portfolio.” Not surprising then that Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) was the first company to undergo a major transformation from being a mere ports operator to becoming an integrated port services and logistics player. According to Gautam Adani in his AGM speech, “Financial year 2021 was a transformational year. No company runs a port business of such scale and reach.” The company added LNG and LPG business to the portfolio. In all, Adani’s ports business moves $100 bn worth of trade every year. Why Entering The Materials Business Makes Sense for Adani? The Adani Group emerged as a surprise bidder for Holcim’s cement business in India earlier this year. While many believe it was a foray into an unrelated business, the Group has compelling reasons behind it. Whether it is building materials like paints and cement or metals, 74% of the cost in these businesses comprise of three things – transport and logistics, power and extraction. Singh believes that the cement industry is like any materials industry, where infra and energy are core components. Explains Singh, “We never looked at cement as a manufacturing business. We believe that the Indian cement industry is horrifically inefficient. And we can bring efficient logistics and power to it. Anyone who has predicted the EBITDA of ACC and Ambuja will be wrong by a factor in the next 9-12 months. The same thing is true for copper and aluminum.” <div type="image" title="Jugeshinder ‘Robbie’ Singh on Adani Group entering the cement business" msid="94857795" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Jugeshinder &amp;#8216;Robbie&amp;#8217; Singh on Adani Group entering the cement business&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Given that Adani Group has all the clearances, it can deliver the key raw materials at a better price.The group already is the largest mining services player in the country and which is why it believes that the development cost of its copper smelter would be a third of the cost of any other developer in the country and aluminum would be the same. “So when you hear we are buying XYZ, I would like you to see in this chart that broadly 100% of our investments are core infra or adjacent areas. We do not do anything outside of this,” said Singh to investors. Surplus Cash &amp; Credit Rating Higher Than Sovereign: Group is generating cash faster than it can deploy Most businesses of the Adani Group enjoy the best in class margins. The ports business has reported operating margins of 70%, while its closest competitor’s margins are at 56%. Adani Total Gas has reported margins of 41%, while Adani Tranmission’s operating margin is at 92%. The businesses are profitable and efficient and generate high levels of free cash flows. The growth, explains Singh, is higher than even some tech companies. The group currently generates earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $8 bn. Of this $8 bn, approximately $3.6 bn is spent on servicing debt (interest and principal). Of the remaining $4.4 bn, the group spends $700 mn towards tax. Businesses spend $1.8 bn towards capex, while the remaining the group is unable to deploy. While in absolute terms the Group’s debt has gone up, but so has its EBITDA, explains Singh. Over the last nine years, the Group’s EBITDA has grown 23% CAGR, while debt has grown by 12%. Nearly 41% of Adani’s portfolio has the same credit rating as that of the Government of India. “We are rated higher than the banks so if we keep the money there, then it is a problem for us,” adds Singh. According to the Group’s CFO Robbie Singh, soon enough the group will have a company in its portfolio, with all its business in India, that will be rated higher than the Government of India. Global Relationships and Capital Drive Growth The Group’s portfolio has evoked interest from global partners like TotalEnergies and even global funds like International Holding Company. TotalEnergies has expanded its investment across the portfolio of companies. Total Energies has invested $4 bn across <keyword id="4929350" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="adani-group-companies" source="Orion">Adani Group companies</keyword> and it is the French company’s largest single minority position in the world. IHC has also invested $2 bn across group companies. The Adani Group has deep relationships with most Indian banks, but since they have group exposure limits, Group Adani cannot grow if it is only dependent on Indian banks. Almost the entire European banking system has relationships with Adani Group along with leading investment banks from the US and Japan. The group has not only raised $16 bn capital in the last three years to fuel growth, but has also run one of the largest equity capital programmes, which is almost the same size as that of Reliance Jio. Adani Enterprises to act as the Group’s Incubator Adani Enterprises has been positioned as the group’s incubator. The group is currently nurturing several new businesses under the aegis of AEL till they become independent and can fund their own capital expenditure plans. The Group believes that it should not be valued on the basis of P/E multiple as its business is the incubation of new businesses. For instance, Adani New Industries is the green hydrogen business under AEL for which the Group has committed capex of $50 bn over the next 10 years. Apart from the new energy venture, data centers, airports and the roads businesses will sit inside AEL till they can be independent and support their own growth ambitions. The Group is looking to hive off some of these new businesses over the next 2-4 years. To be outside of Adani Enterprises, businesses need to meet two conditions: 1) They can sustain their growth on their own and not need money from shareholders. 2) There can be no financial cross holdings. When a business can stand on its feet, it will be demerged from AEL, explains Singh. In the next 2-3 years, hydrogen, airports and transmission businesses can be demerged when they can be independent. But from the look of it, Adani Group’s transformation is a 25-year story of growth and ambition. <div type="image" title="Adani: A world class infrastructure and utility portfolio" msid="94857846" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Adani: A world class infrastructure and utility portfolio&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>SEE ALSO <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/it-cos-go-slow-on-hiring-despite-high-attrition-rates-hiring-down-57-in-q2/articleshow/94832706.cms">IT majors cut down their hiring by half despite high attrition</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/infosys-shares-surge-after-q2-results-9300-buyback-announcement/articleshow/94850939.cms">Infosys shares surge after Q2 results, ₹9,300 crore buyback announcement</a>

Gautam Adani puts in place plan to take Group valuation to $1 trillion

<ul><li>The strategy of Wipro’s new CEO, Theirry Delaporte, will be key in deciding the company’s outlook going forward.</li><li>Wipro is likely to wait out another quarter before issuing its annual guidance, according to analysts.</li><li>Brokerages expect Wipro’s revenue in the first quarter to drop by at least 7%.</li></ul>Wipro is set to report its first-quarter earnings on 14 July, and with other IT services companies in India, analysts expect a dip in revenues and profit — more so than its peers. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Brokerage </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Expected drop in revenue QoQ </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Motilal Oswal </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-7.1% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">IDBI </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-8.6% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ICICI Securities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-8% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nirmal Bang </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-7.9% </td></tr></tbody></table>Source: Preview reports So far this year, Wipro’s share value continues to be down by 8%. However, it has managed to come back from its coronavirus hit by almost 40% since March 19. <div type="image" title="Wipro share price since Jan" msid="76951585" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Wipro&amp;#39;s share price since January 2020&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Wipro As the quarter has progressed, supply-side issues have eased as most of the countries reopened their economies. However, Wipro may have a little more to worry about. “Wipro’s high BPO contribution to revenue makes it more vulnerable to supply-side disruptions as in the current scenario,” said Nirmal Bang’s preview. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="76939426" title="Wipro has no plans of firing any employee due to COVID-19, says chairman Rishad Premji" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Given that BPOs account for more than 40% of Wipro’s IT services, revenue from IT services is expected to see an 8% decline quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) in constant currency (CC) terms, according to IDBI securities. “EBIT margins in global IT services are expected to decline 74 bps [basis points] due to a sharp dip in utilisation,” said ICICI Securities. 100 basis points make up 1%. Unlike its peers, where analysts expect the impact to be limited to particular verticals, Wipro is expected to see “broad-based impact”, according to Motilal Oswal. The product and platforms side of the business may show resilience, expects Nirmal Bang. However, the key segments to keep an eye on will be the impact on engineering research and development (ER&amp;D) and energy, given Wipro’s large exposure to both. Like with TCS, there is likely to be a hard impact of Brexit compounding the weakness in Europe on manufacturing. Wipro has a new CEO The company has recently undergone a change in leadership with Theirry Delaporte becoming the new Wipro CEO. “Long term strategy of the new CEO, strategy to drive industry-leading growth and revival timeline of impacted verticals,” will be a key factor to watch out for as per ICICI securities. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="76086029" title="Wipro appoints Theirry Delaporte as new CEO after his 25 year stint with Capgemini" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> During Monday’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), Delaporte hinted at finalising a plan that would improve the company’s position in the market and “achieve industry-leading growth.” “We will make bold bets and stretch goals and will aim to drive a high-performance culture as we steadfastly hold to our cherished values,” he said. Even so, it’s unlikely that Wipro will issue guidance during the first-quarter earnings. Analysts expect the company to wait out another quarter before sharing its outlook for the year. “We anticipate that we will resume providing revenue guidance when we have increased certainty of both demand and supply-side factors,” Wipro said last quarter. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/tech-mahindra-intel-wipro-and-other-multinationals-hiring-engineers/articleshow/76379519.cms">Tech Mahindra, Intel, Wipro and other multinationals hiring engineers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-infosys-wipro-and-tech-mahindra-what-to-expect-from-earnings/articleshow/76865753.cms">TCS and Infosys to face least impact — Indian IT companies likely to report sharp decline in revenue during first quarter</a>

A new CEO, Brexit and supply-side exposure may leave Wipro’s Q1 earnings more dented than others

Mumbai, Jul 15 () The Sensex and Nifty surrendered most of the day's gains to end marginally higher on Wednesday, pressured by a fag-end selloff in heavyweight Reliance Industries. During the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 777 points, driven by positive sentiment across global markets on hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine. The index, however, made a U-turn in the last hour of trade and settled just 18.75 points, or 0.05 per cent, higher at 36,051.81. On similar lines, the NSE Nifty closed 10.85 points, or 0.10 per cent, up at 10,618.20, after soaring 220 points during the session. Reliance Industries (RIL) was the biggest drag on the Sensex, skidding 3.71 per cent after scaling its life-time high of Rs 1,978.50 (intra-day) as investors rushed to book profits amid a slew of announcements at its annual general meeting. RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said Google will invest Rs 33,737 crore to buy 7.7 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, completing RIL's capital-raising target for the digital arm. Ambani also announced Jio is developing a homegrown 5G telecom solution, but added that his group's planned stake sale in oil-to-chemical business to Saudi Aramco has not progressed as per the original timelines due to the COVID-19 crisis. Bharti Airtel, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance and SBI were also among the laggards, shedding up to 4.24 per cent. On the other hand, Infosys rallied 6.16 per cent ahead of its quarterly earnings. HCL Tech, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank and HUL too ended with smart gains. According to traders, during majority of the session, domestic investors were enthused by hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine as two contenders began human trials in India and one US-based candidate successfully completed the initial phase of human trials. However, the fag-end selloff in RIL halted the rally, they said. "The stock price of Reliance has witnessed a decline towards the end of the AGM since most of the news was already priced in and there were not many surprises," said Nirali Shah, Senior Research Analyst, Samco Securities. Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd, added, "We're seeing a tussle between the bulls and bears for the last couple of sessions and we feel it would be healthy if the market witnesses some correction after the recent surge. However, the resilience of global markets would help the index to limit the downside." BSE IT, teck, FMCG, healthcare, metal and auto indices ended up to 4.89 per cent higher, while telecom, energy, oil and gas and realty indices lost up to 3.63 per cent. Broader BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices fell up to 0.35 per cent. World markets remained buoyant as positive results from a coronavirus vaccine trial by US-based Moderna enthused investors. Bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended with gains, while Shanghai closed in the red. Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading higher in opening deals. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.10 per cent to USD 43.37 per barrel. On the currency front, the rupee appreciated 27 paise to end at 75.15 against the US dollar. India saw a record single-day jump of 29,429 COVID-19 cases, pushing its tally to 9,36,181 on Wednesday, while the death toll climbed to 24,309 with 582 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data. ANS ABM ABM

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