Firstsource Solutions likely to perform well on new deals

Firstsource Solutions (FSL), a pure-play business proc-ess outsourcing company, offers a range of customised BPO services across the segments, including healthcare, telecom, media and bank-ing and financial services industries. The company has a widespread presence with 42 delivery centres spread across India, the US, the UK and Philippines

GROWTH DRIVERS:

FSL, which was incorporated in 2001, entered into an outsourcing agreement with UK-based credit card and consumer lending business of Barclays, Barclaycard, the UK, during the September 2010 quarter. The contract is spread across a period of five years commencing from November 1, 2010, and involves management of Barclays credit card and consumer lending business. Although the deal size is not yet disclosed, it is similar to a five-year credit card contract worth $80 million signed by FSL with Barclay’s US unit in 2008.

Also, during the September quarter, FSL has signaed a five-year agreement worth 50 crore with Axis Bank. The assignment includes offering customer contact services to the bank’s retail customers.

Currently, FSL derives 22-23 % of its total revenues from the BFSI segment. The company expects to witness an increase in the contribution from the vertical going ahead. Moreover, with the realisations from the deals, the Asia business unit of the company is likely to wit-ness a break even by the end of the current fiscal.

While FSL has seen delay in orders from telecom and media companies, it expects to witness revenue growth on account of ramp ups in the healthcare sector going forward. This can be attributed to the re-cent healthcare reforms in the US. Also, with the advent of mobile number portability (MNP) and customer verification services, the company expects to see a turnaround in the demand from the telecom sector in the coming quarters, but closure of the deals remains a concern.

FINANCIALS:

The Company posted decent numbers for the September 2010 quarter. The top line grew 3% to 503.5 crore against the year-ago period. During the quarter, while the US contributed 59% of the total revenue, the UK formed 29% and the balance came from the company’s operations in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company has been more or less consistent on the profitability front. Over the past four quarters, the company has been hovering around an operating margin of 14%. The numbers for the September 2010 quarter are not any different with the margin at 14.4%.

During the September quarter, the bottom line surged 14% to 33 crore against the corresponding period last year. With the increased hiring by bigger players in the industry, attrition has been a major concern for FSL over the quarters. To combat this and in anticipation of higher manpower demand across the sectors, the company has hired 212 employees during the September quarter.

VALUATION:

At the current market price of 27.65, the scrip is trading at nearly nine times its trailing 12 month earnings per share. Given the new deals signed by the company and expected growth in the global IT spend, the company is expected to fare well in the coming quarters.

CONCERN:

Nearly 90% of the company’s revenue comes from the US and the UK. This makes the company vulnerable to the currency movement and economic slowdowns in these regions.

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