Quess Corp (QUESS) Q4 23/24 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY24 delivered record revenue of ₹191.00bn and EBITDA of ₹6.94bn, up 11% and 18% YoY; EBITDA rose sequentially for seven consecutive quarters.

• Headcount exceeded 567,000 after a net addition of 56,000 during the year; 737 new contracts were secured despite softness in IT.

• A three-way demerger into workforce, BPM/technology, and facilities/industrial businesses was announced, targeting greater strategic focus and value discovery.

Financial highlights

• Consolidated revenue was ₹191,001.33m vs ₹171,583.87m in FY23; EBITDA was ₹6,935.10m vs ₹5,856.62m.

• Consolidated PAT rose to ₹2,804.04m from ₹2,229.09m; diluted EPS increased to ₹18.61 from ₹15.04.

• Operating cash flow increased 14% to ₹5.29bn from ₹4.66bn; cash and cash equivalents ended FY24 at ₹5.20bn.

• Exceptional items included a ₹387.50m gain on Qdigi sale, ₹305.30m ECL on certain government projects, ₹224.87m impairment, and ₹128.92m merger/demerger costs.

Outlook and guidance

• The demerger was expected to complete within 12–15 months of the February 2024 announcement, subject to regulatory, exchange, tribunal, shareholder, and creditor approvals.

• Workforce priorities include international staffing growth, targeting a 30% EBITDA contribution from international staffing, and growing IT staffing at 2x the IT services market rate.

• FY25 OAM priorities include healthy topline growth, tech-enabled facility services for BFSI, healthcare and public utilities, and renewed growth from Q2 after expected seasonal Q1 softness in food and telecom.

• Foundit plans to sustain growth with lower cash burn; Q4 exit ARR exceeded ₹2bn and the FY24 cash burn was near zero in Q4.