SENSEX
NIFTY 50
Hang Seng
Taiwan Weighted
MCX GOLD OCT 05
MCX SILVER SEP 04
USD/INR
EUR/INR80.0630

SENSEX
NIFTY 50
NIFTY MIDCAP 100
S&P BSE MIDCAP
Hang Seng
Taiwan Weighted
DAX
Nasdaq
MCX GOLD OCT 05
MCX SILVER SEP 04
MCX CRUDEOIL AUG 19
MCX NATURALGAS AUG 26
USD/INR
EUR/INR
GBP/INR
JPY/INR

Stock Market Live: Sensex jumps 150 points, Nifty around 11,350; IT stocks gain

Global Markets: Asian stocks falter after China data disappointment

Oil firms on US stimulus hopes, Asian demand recovery

Rupee ends marginally lower; appreciates by 0.24% for the week

Information Technology

Here's what L&T Infotech chief Sanjay Jalona says on industry growth, acquisition plans and margin targets

Updated : August 24, 2018 02:12 PM IST

According to Sanjay Jalona, the chief executive of the company, there is a lot of positivity in the industry in all verticals.

L&T Infotech (LTI) has been seeing consistent growth.

The digital business of the company has reached 34 percent of the company's revenues.

While most IT firms saw a strain on the banking and financial vertical with increased cost pressure in North America, L&T Infotech (LTI) has been seeing consistent growth.

According to Sanjay Jalona, the chief executive of the company, there is a lot of positivity in the industry in all verticals.

The digital business of the company has reached 34 percent of the company's revenues. Jalona said that the bracket will only grow as clients look at cost-effectiveness and transformation at the same time.

Here's the full transcript of the interview:

Q: From your perspective, will FY19 be better than FY18 from L&T Infotech’s point of view?

A: Definitely, from LTI’s perspective, we will see continued growth. In FY17, we had around 10 percent growth, FY18 was around 17 percent growth. Where we sit today, we still have a few quarters to go but we are very confident that the growth will continue. We are quite positive and we are also seeing a rebound in the IT industry overall.

Q: Do you think that the clients that you are working with, especially North America financial services clients who had hit the pause button, are now more confident to be able to spend on discretionary expenditure?

A: I think that is what we are seeing. We are seeing a lot of discretionary spend come up there. Tax reforms have helped the companies, the companies are performing a lot better, everyone’s revenues and profitable growth is happening so they are definitely finding newer ways to connect with the customer and with the regulatory pressures on, they are spending a lot of money on analytics and so on and so forth. So I think there is a lot of positivity in the industry overall and this is across the verticals.

Q: Given the kind of discretionary investments that have gone into digital, what is the next target for margins?

A: We want to keep the margin at the band that we are in and when you grow fast, you have additional margins that come into your kitty. We want to invest it all back into the business and grow faster. Our whole target has been keeping the margin where they are and we are a growth company. People should look at it as a growth company as we want to push everything onto growth whether it is acquisitions or building capabilities or even hiring the right set of people, that is more important to me.

Q: You spoke about acquisitions, what is the next big target for you? You have made very interesting acquisitions till date, what specifically are you looking at? Would midcap IT companies interest you or would it be on scale or would it be a specific skillset or product-driven IPs that will interest you?

A: You never say never in an acquisition. But typically, my mind is that we want to acquire for capabilities rather than the size. In today’s world, customers are not hiring you for scale, customers are hiring you for expertise and capabilities and that makes us move towards hiring companies with strong capabilities, they typically will be smaller companies, that is what you have seen us do. We have done two acquisitions in the last couple of years but if the right opportunity comes, size should not be a problem.

Q: You will not shy away from making a big bet if need be?

A: Absolutely not.

You May Also Like

Bihar conducts record 1 lakh COVID-19 tests; 3,906 fresh cases

Bihar conducts record 1 lakh COVID-19 tests; 3,906 fresh cases

Trump administration 'satisfied' with China purchase progress in Phase 1 trade deal: Larry Kudlow

Trump administration 'satisfied' with China purchase progress in Phase 1 trade deal: Larry Kudlow

As govt proposes transaction threshold overhaul, hotel bills above Rs 20,000, jewellery purchase of over Rs 1 lakh to come under I-T scanner

As govt proposes transaction threshold overhaul, hotel bills above Rs 20,000, jewellery purchase of over Rs 1 lakh to come under I-T scanner

Trending on CNBC-TV18

Live TV

recommended for you