See better deal pipeline, good traction in BFSI: IGATE

Outsourcing company IGATE has reported nearly 3 percent rise in revenues and 14 percent jump in profits in its fourth quarter. Discussing the company’s results and the road ahead, CEO Ashok Vemuri said North America continues to remain leading market with 78 percent revenues. The company has added 9 new clients in Q4. 

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Vemuri said 2014 has been a transformational year and that the company has been seeing good traction in BFSI & retail segments. “We remain focused on adding clients,” he added.

Below is the transcript of Ashok Vemuri’s interview with CNBC-TV18's Kritika Saxena.Q: You said that calendar 2015 is expected to be better than 2014. What is the commentary that you are witnessing from clients when it comes to the deal pipeline? Is there a significant uptick that you are witnessing when compared to last year and where are the areas that you are seeing an uptick because from your peers, specially your domestic peers we have seen words of caution when it comes to North America, when it comes to Europe, even when it comes to emerging geographies?A: We are basically going into 2015 where we are actually seeing better pipeline than we were going into 2014. We have a lot more confidence, it is not just about the pipeline, the number of deals or the value of the pipeline but the quality of that pipeline as well. We clearly expect to see on the back of a research in the US to continue to grow that market; that is our biggest market. We are seeing a good traction in the BFSI space, especially in the financial services space. We are seeing good traction in retail and CPG and that is back with the number of deals that we have won. If you look at our client opening that is very broadly spread in the US with manufacturing, BFSI, in retail CPG etc.In the European market the markets that we have chosen for ourselves, UK, the Nordics, Switzerland and increasingly trying to find traction in Germany. These are the markets which will continue to find despite the macroeconomic volatility and talks of contraction etc that they will continue to find the opportunities for the value proposition that we are bringing on this table.

Q: Customers at this point in time across the world are looking at cost optimisation. As you said there has been a focus on digital while customers are optimising. You are the only player that has actually made a separate business vertical for digital. What kind of growth are you witnessing over there and can you put a number to the traction you are seeing in the market?A: Digital is a very interesting space for us although it is small we have grown this year at 40 percent. We think that, that is really the cutting edge in terms of engaging with clients and essentially build on where their money is going. That is why we have moved for example our head over there. We are hiring fairly aggressively for our digital practise. However the point about cost take out, it is not so universal anymore. If I look at the clients in the US market place the focus has shifted to the revenue side of the balance sheet. They are looking from a technology perspective to become much more competitive, that is why digital is finding so much traction. They are looking for processes, they are looking for utilities that can provide them with cost and efficiency which will help drive business from a revenue perspective as well.