eClerx Services Ltd — Q4 FY26

eClerx Services Ltd Q4 FY2025-26 Earnings Conference Call https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNB6WVwc50A Published: 14 hours ago

0:01 1 second Hi everyone, good day and welcome to the Q4 FI26 earnings call of E-Clark Services Limited. Please note that this 0:10 10 seconds webinar will be recorded. To take us through the results today and to answer your questions, we have with us the top management of E-Clers represented by Mr. 0:19 19 seconds Capil Jane, managing director and group CEO, Mr. Shiniasan Nadur, Chief Financial Officer. We will start the 0:27 27 seconds call with brief opening remarks by Capil followed by Shinwazam who will be sharing the financial update and then we 0:34 34 seconds will open the floor for Q&A session. As usual, I would like to remind you that anything that is mentioned on this call that gives any outlook for the future or 0:43 43 seconds which can be construed as forwardlooking statement must be viewed in conjunction with the risk and uncertaintities that 0:49 49 seconds we face. This risk and uncertainties are included but not limited to what we have mentioned in the prospectors file with 0:56 56 seconds SEI and subsequent annual reports which you can find on our website. Having said that, I will now open the floor for hand 1:05 1 minute, 5 seconds over the floor to Capil. Uh over to you Capil. 1:09 1 minute, 9 seconds Thank you Asha and good afternoon everyone. 1:12 1 minute, 12 seconds Welcome to our Q4 and full year FI2526 earnings call. I'm pleased to share our results and reflect on a year that 1:21 1 minute, 21 seconds despite real macro headwinds delivered some of strongest numbers in e- clerk's history. Let's let me start with the full year. 1:30 1 minute, 30 seconds FYI26 operating revenue came in at USD 169 USD 469 million up 18% year-onear in 1:39 1 minute, 39 seconds dollar terms and 22% in INR terms at INR 4,217 1:46 1 minute, 46 seconds critta grew 29% to INR 1,153 crores with margins expanding 1:54 1 minute, 54 seconds meaningfully net profit rose 30% to INR 706 per hour and EPS increased 33% post 2:03 2 minutes, 3 seconds bonus issue. These numbers reflect durable operational leverage built over several years. 2:11 2 minutes, 11 seconds Q4 operating revenue was USD 122 million up 17% yearonear with6% sequential growth. 2:21 2 minutes, 21 seconds INR revenue for the quarter was INR 1135 cr up 24% yearonear. Operating a bittor 2:29 2 minutes, 29 seconds for the quarter came in at INR 2841 million at a 25.7% margin up 2.8% sequentially. 2:40 2 minutes, 40 seconds Q4 PAT stood at INR 1,894 million at a 16.7% margin. 2:49 2 minutes, 49 seconds margins held up well despite the softer sequential revenue growth. A testament to the discipline we have built into our operating model. 2:59 2 minutes, 59 seconds New deal wins for Q4 were USD 46 million steady momentum and a strong signal of client confidence in our capabilities going into FI27. 3:10 3 minutes, 10 seconds FI 24 and 25 were years of del deliberate prioritization, deciding where to concentrate our investments and 3:17 3 minutes, 17 seconds making some discipline bets. In FI26, we began to see those decisions translating into measurable outcomes. 3:26 3 minutes, 26 seconds Analytics and automation is now a USD 90 million book. That is uh a significant milestone and this area will continue to 3:35 3 minutes, 35 seconds attract focused investment and management attention. 3:40 3 minutes, 40 seconds On AI, we made substantial internal and client-f facing progress this year. We secured our first large scale agentic AI 3:48 3 minutes, 48 seconds win in Q4 with deployments planned for Q1 FI27 and thereafter. 3:55 3 minutes, 55 seconds We launched an Agentic data sourcing platform attracting strong interest from large banks. 4:02 4 minutes, 2 seconds Our AI native orchestrator for KYC case management is live across multiple client systems. 4:10 4 minutes, 10 seconds Internally, a substantial number of employees are now using RoboWorks Cogniflows. 4:16 4 minutes, 16 seconds Our Agentic AI platform across HR, administration, and help desk functions. 4:23 4 minutes, 23 seconds We have trained more than 3,000 employees on Agentic AI and VIP coding. 4:28 4 minutes, 28 seconds We are building an AI fluent organization from the inside out. 4:33 4 minutes, 33 seconds On the Adobe relationship, we are seeing solid expansion across banking, retail, and M &D clients. A partnership that is maturing into a meaningful growth engine. 4:44 4 minutes, 44 seconds Let me give you a quick readout by Vertical. CMT delivered an excellent Q4 with sequential growth exceeding 7%. We 4:53 4 minutes, 53 seconds are adding new inbound sales capabilities and geographic diversification conversations are gaining real traction 5:01 5 minutes, 1 second with client expansions exploring into Manila, Cairo and Faithville. We are closely monitoring the proposed NPRM on 5:09 5 minutes, 9 seconds offshore call restrictions and maintaining active dialogue with clients on contingency planning. 5:16 5 minutes, 16 seconds BFSI had a softer quarter as a couple of engagements worn down the consulting work that we were doing but the pipeline is encouraging. We have signed and are 5:25 5 minutes, 25 seconds ramping a European bank on client life cycle work and conversations around KYC financial crime compliance and AIEL transformation are progressing well. 5:36 5 minutes, 36 seconds High-tech, M&D and retail. 5:38 5 minutes, 38 seconds Client budgets in Hi-Tech remained focused on transformation, automation and customer satisfaction which plays directly to our strengths. The first 5:47 5 minutes, 47 seconds agentic AI deployments in Q4 were one year. M&D and retail had a softer Q4 but pipeline across both new and existing accounts is strong. 5:58 5 minutes, 58 seconds on the emerging business which is led by finance and accounting. We have delivered strong growth across three consecutive quarters. The person brand 6:07 6 minutes, 7 seconds continues to carry strong recall among SMBs seeking FNA automation. 6:13 6 minutes, 13 seconds Fashion and luxury had a sluggish year, but our CLX business is expected to return to growth in H1 FI27 6:21 6 minutes, 21 seconds supported by new Genai wins at a key client as well as what we are seeing uh some positive green shoots uh on the fashion and luxury industry segment. 6:33 6 minutes, 33 seconds Top 10 client concentration has come down to 59% from 63 to 64%. a healthy sign of 6:41 6 minutes, 41 seconds portfolio diversification that reduces concentration risk as we scale. 6:46 6 minutes, 46 seconds A few recognition highlights. We were named a representative vendor in the Gartner market guide for digital shelf analytics for a market 360 solution. 6:57 6 minutes, 57 seconds A strong external validation of our analytics commercial capabilities. 7:03 7 minutes, 3 seconds We were recognized as a category leader in the chartis risk tech quadrant for customer life cycle management for corporate and investment banking. 7:13 7 minutes, 13 seconds Notably in our very first participation market 360 also won the analytics and BI 7:20 7 minutes, 20 seconds category at the e-commerce Germany awards and we won three awards at the Asia-Pacific TV awards for innovation 7:28 7 minutes, 28 seconds and talent development for the third consecutive year. 7:33 7 minutes, 33 seconds Geopolitical uncertainty and macroeconomic pressure remain part of the operating landscape. We are not immune to those dynamics, but long-term 7:42 7 minutes, 42 seconds demand for our services remains firmly intact and our pipeline is strong, underpinned by deep client engagement and a growing set of opportunities 7:50 7 minutes, 50 seconds across verticals. We enter FY27 with conviction. Our balance sheet is healthy. Our talent is deep and 7:58 7 minutes, 58 seconds increasingly AI capable. Our client relationships are strengthening and our strategic bets are beginning to compound. 8:06 8 minutes, 6 seconds None of this happens without the trust our clients place in us, the commitment our people bring every day and the strength of our partner ecosystem. I am 8:15 8 minutes, 15 seconds grateful for each of those relationships and we remain deeply mindful of the responsibility that comes with them. 8:23 8 minutes, 23 seconds Thank you. Over to Shini. 8:26 8 minutes, 26 seconds U thank you Kapil and good evening everyone. Um just to reiterate what Capil mentioned at the beginning of his remarks and as you would have noticed in 8:35 8 minutes, 35 seconds the presentation uh we are now showing both operating AITA which is excluding other income and EIA including other 8:42 8 minutes, 42 seconds income. We will probably gradually shift our commentary to refer to the operating EITA metric um which as many of you have pointed out is a more meaningful number 8:51 8 minutes, 51 seconds to uh look at. I will recap some of the revenue and margin numbers. So in constant currency terms, operating 8:59 8 minutes, 59 seconds revenue is up 0.5% sequentially and 17% for the full year including other income 9:05 9 minutes, 5 seconds of uh 281 million. Total revenue is 11,354 million up 3.1% sequentially and 23% for 9:14 9 minutes, 14 seconds the full year. The net operating cash flow for the quarter is 2833 million and the OC OCF to EIA ratio is at 90%. 9:24 9 minutes, 24 seconds U operating AIA Q1 Q is down 15 uh bips uh because of higher headcount addition and increased travel costs during the 9:32 9 minutes, 32 seconds quarter. This was partially offset by lower GNA costs and a marginal reduction in SNV. Uh overall IATA including other 9:41 9 minutes, 41 seconds income is down 42 bits while fullear EIA has expanded by 132 pips. Utilization in Q4 is 74% lower than the 8 quarter high of 76 and a half% that we saw in Q3. 9:54 9 minutes, 54 seconds uh capex is up in Q4. These are this is primarily due to investments in computers and networking equipment. 10:01 10 minutes, 1 second Uh on the uh other key metrics as Capil already mentioned top 10 concentration is down to 59%. Uh DSO is at 81% uh 10:10 10 minutes, 10 seconds attrition at 21% is marginally up uh as compared to Q2 and Q3 but lower than what we've seen in the past. In FI26, we 10:20 10 minutes, 20 seconds generated 8,729 million of cash and cash from operations and a free cash flow of 7,560 million, 10:28 10 minutes, 28 seconds 33% and 41% higher than the previous year. The OCF to Abitar ratio is 75% the highest in the last 5 years. And uh just 10:37 10 minutes, 37 seconds to conclude on an administrative note, uh the bonus issue was affected in March. The board has proposed a dividend of rupees u one per share and please do 10:47 10 minutes, 47 seconds note that wage increments are effective April 1. Thank you everyone and with this we conclude our prepared remarks. 10:53 10 minutes, 53 seconds We can move on to the Q&A. Uh back to you Asha. 10:58 10 minutes, 58 seconds Thank you Shinasan. Thank you Capil. We will now open the floor for Q&A. We have first first question from the line of 11:06 11 minutes, 6 seconds Sepa from Equia Securities. Sep please go ahead. 11:12 11 minutes, 12 seconds Yeah, thanks thanks for the opportunity and congrats on good execution despite tough macro. So just wanted to 11:18 11 minutes, 18 seconds understand uh last year for you was a very good exit on the run rate of the 11:25 11 minutes, 25 seconds revenue plus the order book on a y while last year has grown at 50%. This time we 11:32 11 minutes, 32 seconds are exiting slightly at a softer revenue growth with almost 23 24% growth in new 11:39 11 minutes, 39 seconds ACV. So in this scenario you believe FI27 growth momentum could be lower versus FI26. 11:51 11 minutes, 51 seconds So uh sep two things uh like I had said quarter on quarter volatility given the 11:58 11 minutes, 58 seconds size of the business uh will exist I think uh what I had said was that for the full year we will be in the top 12:07 12 minutes, 7 seconds quartile on the growth and 24 to 28% on aa and we will show a sequential growth 12:15 12 minutes, 15 seconds in AIA for 27 also we are saying that we will be in the top quartile of the growth 12:21 12 minutes, 21 seconds U in terms of whether it'll be lower or higher I think uh I wouldn't want to comment at this stage. 12:28 12 minutes, 28 seconds Okay. Okay. And just further to that uh we very well called out Q4 being softer in Q3 call. Uh but now you believe one Q 12:38 12 minutes, 38 seconds can bounce back in terms of growth trajectory and that could be true across one Q to 4Q. 12:46 12 minutes, 46 seconds So I think like I said our pipeline is strong sep and our ACV conversions that we have reported are healthy 12:55 12 minutes, 55 seconds and uh quarter and quarter abration may be there but I think given a good ACV 13:04 13 minutes, 4 seconds closure in Q4 we expect that it should definitely be better than what we did in Q4 if you look at the sequential growth. 13:15 13 minutes, 15 seconds uh beyond that I think I wouldn't want to comment. However, I would like to reaffirm that we on the fullear basis uh 13:23 13 minutes, 23 seconds we are confident of delivering growth in the top quart. 13:26 13 minutes, 26 seconds Okay. Okay. And so last question then I will come in the followup. Uh you said in Q4 we had one of the large aentic AI 13:35 13 minutes, 35 seconds deal which seems in consumer and retail but we won it in Q4 FY26. Do you believe revenue ramp up may start from Q4 FY27? 13:45 13 minutes, 45 seconds Is it the right way of looking at it? 13:49 13 minutes, 49 seconds So I think we in F sorry sorry that is the right way. However we are seeing 13:55 13 minutes, 55 seconds good traction on Agentic AI across our industry segments and we are having uh 14:03 14 minutes, 3 seconds both we are building capability. We are investing in upskilling our employees 14:10 14 minutes, 10 seconds and domain as I had said earlier that I see this as an advantage. A because of 14:17 14 minutes, 17 seconds domain, B because of products that we bring in to deliver our services which we are making agentic AI enabled. I 14:26 14 minutes, 26 seconds think are beginning to see traction um across all the industry segments. 14:33 14 minutes, 33 seconds Okay, thanks. will come in the followup. Thank you Sep. 14:39 14 minutes, 39 seconds Thank you Sep. Uh before taking next question I would just like to remind the participants that please click on raise 14:46 14 minutes, 46 seconds hand button to ask questions. Uh we have next question from the line of Girish P from BB Capital Markets. Girish please go ahead. 14:58 14 minutes, 58 seconds Am I audible? Yes. Yeah. Uh so thanks for the opportunity. 15:03 15 minutes, 3 seconds Um just wanted to ask you a couple uh was 4Q softer than you had expected at the beginning of the quarter that's uh 15:11 15 minutes, 11 seconds point number one. Second is the margin guidance for next year similar to that of FI26. 15:18 15 minutes, 18 seconds Uh Girish yes uh so on margin yes we would like to retain the same guidance between 24 to 28%. 15:27 15 minutes, 27 seconds uh I think it was in line with what we had expected uh like and which is what we had told you guys uh during our Q3 results. 15:37 15 minutes, 37 seconds So uh no it was not a surprise for us. 15:42 15 minutes, 42 seconds Okay. On um this agentic AI uh project that you kind of you said the deployment is going to start from one Q from a 15:50 15 minutes, 50 seconds commercial structure structuring perspective. How is this different from the normal contracts that you you currently executing? 16:00 16 minutes So this is we are helping clients on agentic AI deployment in terms of uh areas where clients are asking us to 16:09 16 minutes, 9 seconds come and help bring the efficiency effectiveness in in the work that we are doing. So it's more in terms of 16:17 16 minutes, 17 seconds uh the what is what are the outcomes how you are delivering and I think in some of the clients we 16:25 16 minutes, 25 seconds have a pole position as far as agentic AI deployment is concerned. So obviously this field is also scaling up. So we see 16:33 16 minutes, 33 seconds that the fact that we have the pole position the client trusts us we have delivered well I think goes in line. the 16:41 16 minutes, 41 seconds contractual nature is not very different in terms of what the other contracts have been. 16:48 16 minutes, 48 seconds So is this not outcome based and is there a is there a positive angle or a negative angle in the sense if you deliver better numbers 16:56 16 minutes, 56 seconds see clients on agentic AI because of the benefits clients who are confident and I think from when in conversations with clients I think they feel only a third 17:04 17 minutes, 4 seconds of the large corporates fortune 2000 companies will get this right. 17:10 17 minutes, 10 seconds Clients who are confident in achieving the outcome are not keen in sharing the outcome. 17:15 17 minutes, 15 seconds uh so on on on the in certain areas yes we are committing on the outcomes 17:22 17 minutes, 22 seconds so different operating models exist in certain cases on market 360 yes we are committing on outcomes in compliance 17:29 17 minutes, 29 seconds manager KYC we have reduced the cost of refresh let's say by 50%. because we have brought in agent AI for this agenti 17:38 17 minutes, 38 seconds deployment that specific project that I called out it is not linked to outcome or positive or negative influence. 17:47 17 minutes, 47 seconds Okay. Uh couple my last question is regarding your AI capabilities uh on the advanced AI um capabilities that you 17:56 17 minutes, 56 seconds have be it from a domain skill perspective or from a IP perspective or from a from a technology angle which are the things that you've kind of developed 18:04 18 minutes, 4 seconds in the last say 12 to 18 months which you can kind of call out and say uh these are very specific to advanced AI. 18:12 18 minutes, 12 seconds So domain I think was always core and central to us and we always 18:20 18 minutes, 20 seconds use technology to deliver and had human in the loop. 18:25 18 minutes, 25 seconds So we have products like our compliance manager in financial crime and 18:33 18 minutes, 33 seconds compliance space market 360 in digital commerce space 18:39 18 minutes, 39 seconds where we have enabled them uh around around the AI and that's seeing 18:47 18 minutes, 47 seconds lot of traction with the clients because it's completely outcome basis in terms of how we are able to price it. 18:56 18 minutes, 56 seconds Then there are other set of IP that we have where we are saying native where we have created an orchestration layer and that's the second bucket. 19:07 19 minutes, 7 seconds So uh I think on all three dimensions we have made progress and uh like and and we are beginning to 19:15 19 minutes, 15 seconds see traction and having discussions like as I was saying across the all the verticals that we have uh on this but in 19:23 19 minutes, 23 seconds terms of revenue in terms of what percentage I think that's still small as I had said we were having PC's we were 19:31 19 minutes, 31 seconds having pilots now I think they they're converting into meaningful projects I think we continue to uh we hope and 19:40 19 minutes, 40 seconds continue to make progress and and and get the share of the wallet as clients spend more and more money on this space. 19:50 19 minutes, 50 seconds Okay. Thank you. Thanks Girish. 19:54 19 minutes, 54 seconds Thank you Girish. We have next question from the line of Jimit. Uh Jimit please go ahead. 20:05 20 minutes, 5 seconds Yeah. Hi um thanks uh for the opportunity. Uh just a few questions. Uh first is that uh if I'm around five to 15 to 20% of uh revenue. 20:18 20 minutes, 18 seconds So how do we expect this to change say due to AI or any sorry what 20:26 20 minutes, 26 seconds you're not audible uh Jim it's your voice is breaking. Yeah. Am I audible now? 20:34 20 minutes, 34 seconds Yeah. Yeah. 20:35 20 minutes, 35 seconds Yeah. Uh sorry I'll just repeat the question. So uh I was saying that the rolloffs are generally in the band of 15 20:42 20 minutes, 42 seconds to 20% of revenue. So how do we expect this to uh say due to AI or say any 20:49 20 minutes, 49 seconds potential inflation due to AI any questions are 15% of the typical will 20:58 20 minutes, 58 seconds that change because of AI? So we don't think that number is going to meaningfully change because um uh AI is 21:05 21 minutes, 5 seconds another productivity tool um and it takes time to implement. I think benefits also come with time. So uh the 21:13 21 minutes, 13 seconds 15 to 20% that we uh see rolling off every year is because of projects that have that were short-term to begin with. 21:22 21 minutes, 22 seconds Most of these are projects that were short-term to begin with um and they come to a natural conclusion and uh an 21:29 21 minutes, 29 seconds AI project if it is short-term will be of a similar nature as well. So we don't see that number um changing much. 21:40 21 minutes, 40 seconds Okay. Uh fair point and uh in ter headcount addition so we had uh a good headcount addition this 21:49 21 minutes, 49 seconds quarter as well. uh while the revenue movement is a little soft. Uh right. So are we enging any sort of uh future 21:57 21 minutes, 57 seconds deals or are we u um you know like what what is the uh uh attribution are having at dependent time in terms of the 22:05 22 minutes, 5 seconds headcount addition versus the revenue uh moment. 22:11 22 minutes, 11 seconds So uh I I think like I said uh sorry I didn't get your name Jim. Jim uh like I said we expect Q1 22:19 22 minutes, 19 seconds definitely to be better on a sequential basis than what we had in Q4 and that's also reflected in the headcount that you have noticed in Q1 22:28 22 minutes, 28 seconds u and u I think uh healthy pipeline ACV conversions in Q4 were good so I think 22:37 22 minutes, 37 seconds uh we are confident and our services adjacent capabilities are resonating well with clients 22:46 22 minutes, 46 seconds Um so I think u like I said we for the full year we definitely expect to be in the top quarter of growth. 22:56 22 minutes, 56 seconds Thank you. Thank you. 22:59 22 minutes, 59 seconds Thank you Jimir. We have next question from the line of Rohit Toad Rohit. Please go ahead. 23:11 23 minutes, 11 seconds Yeah thank you for the opportunity. Uh so my first question is on subcon expenses. So your subcon expenses as a 23:19 23 minutes, 19 seconds percentage of revenue has seen a significant increase uh on a sequential basis and currently it is at a 23:28 23 minutes, 28 seconds multi-quarter high level. So what is driving the increase in subcon and how should the trajectory uh go from next few quarters? 23:37 23 minutes, 37 seconds Yeah, thanks for that question uh Rohit. 23:40 23 minutes, 40 seconds So there is a recclass of uh some expenses from um business promotion into subcon 23:47 23 minutes, 47 seconds uh in this quarter uh which is for the full year which is why that number is appearing high but um on a BAU basis um 23:54 23 minutes, 54 seconds if we exclude that then there is um no meaningful um change. I mean is it is pretty much in line with uh revenue. Um 24:02 24 minutes, 2 seconds our use of subcontractor is also judicious and we expect it more or less to grow in line with revenue and not uh faster. 24:12 24 minutes, 12 seconds Okay. Uh and my second question is on uh sales and marketing cost. So last quarter uh when the sales and marketing 24:19 24 minutes, 19 seconds cost went up, you said that you had made provision for variable pay due to which it had gone up. However, this quarter 24:26 24 minutes, 26 seconds also it has stayed flat Q on Q basis. So have you like made provisions for variable this quarter as well? 24:35 24 minutes, 35 seconds So this quarter we have down sorry this quarter we have tred up for what the actual uh variable pay was. So 24:43 24 minutes, 43 seconds the provisions have been a little lesser than what it was uh uh in Q3 and uh going forward it'll be the fresh 24:51 24 minutes, 51 seconds financial year. So provisions that we we will make uh at the beginning of the year typically tend to be a little conservative and then they come closer 24:59 24 minutes, 59 seconds towards actuals um as the year progresses. I hope that answers your question. 25:06 25 minutes, 6 seconds Yeah, thanks. Thanks. 25:10 25 minutes, 10 seconds Thank you, Rohit. We have next question from the line of SEP Sha. Sep please go ahead. 25:22 25 minutes, 22 seconds Yeah, thanks thanks for the followup opportunity. uh Capri just uh as you are gaining traction on the agentic AI uh 25:32 25 minutes, 32 seconds and is there an instance where you were executing a process on a traditional input base where you have now 25:40 25 minutes, 40 seconds transformed into agentic AI. So how does ACV TCV is changing and at a level or 25:49 25 minutes, 49 seconds gross margin level is it margins also changing if you can give us some example it will help. 25:55 25 minutes, 55 seconds So sep these are not like mutually exclusive things. See our biggest advantage and I've been saying this 26:03 26 minutes, 3 seconds I I think if you look at these in discrete manner agent tech domain IP 26:13 26 minutes, 13 seconds a process headcount I'm sure companies who are looking it in that manner will never get it right. 26:23 26 minutes, 23 seconds If you can bring all of these elements together and deliver to an outcome, agentic is not like some like a secret 26:32 26 minutes, 32 seconds sauce that I I have to bring it and blend it with all what I'm delivering 26:39 26 minutes, 39 seconds and client has to see the benefit and value in the delivery 26:46 26 minutes, 46 seconds like risk reduction, operational efficiency, operational leverage, effectiveness as 26:53 26 minutes, 53 seconds uh overall experience. We won several awards as I had indicated in Q3 with with few of our clients. 27:02 27 minutes, 2 seconds So I think the secret source is a service provider who can bring it all together and deliver that alpha is what clients are looking for and I think we 27:10 27 minutes, 10 seconds feel confident that we have that ability in the service offerings that we offer to a client and in adjacent areas as well. 27:20 27 minutes, 20 seconds So I think I hope I've answered your question because I think it's very difficult to break like in in the way you are asking uh in terms of discrete components. 27:30 27 minutes, 30 seconds Okay. Okay. Fair enough. Sir, is it possible to share some scale up of agent revenue or it's too early and right now it's immaterial? 27:39 27 minutes, 39 seconds It's it's little too early. I think see the point is if clients have to we have to stay relevant for clients business 27:48 27 minutes, 48 seconds and get clients mind share right in terms of the share of the wallet. Now as long as I am seeing that that we are 27:56 27 minutes, 56 seconds seeing agentic AI we are having conversations across the verticals and we are beginning to see tangible 28:04 28 minutes, 4 seconds revenue. To me it's a good sign that clients are recognizing our ability and 28:10 28 minutes, 10 seconds are confident on our ability to deliver to the work that they are giving us. 28:17 28 minutes, 17 seconds Okay. Okay. And sir just uh in terms of frontier AI model uh will we be partner 28:25 28 minutes, 25 seconds to them or we may be competitor to them through our tools frameworks and the products. 28:32 28 minutes, 32 seconds So we will be using their tools um and which is what we are doing. We will be using their models. Uh we are not a 28:40 28 minutes, 40 seconds competitor in the traditional sense that we have no models of our own. Uh we are trying for partnerships but I think it 28:47 28 minutes, 47 seconds is a little early for um us to announce anything on that front. 28:52 28 minutes, 52 seconds Okay. Okay. And just uh last two questions on the bookkeeping and financial uh screening. So when I look 28:59 28 minutes, 59 seconds into your outstanding hedges, it looks like even FI27 would be materially lower than the uh 29:08 29 minutes, 8 seconds spot rate because of the hedging which we have done. So in that scenario uh the upside through FX on a Y could be 29:17 29 minutes, 17 seconds limited. Is it a fair assumption and it could be higher in FY 2028? 29:24 29 minutes, 24 seconds Uh that is fair. So um as you noted most of our hedgebook uh is at probably 89 or something like that for uh FY2. 29:32 29 minutes, 32 seconds Correct. Um so yes any uh upside will be limited. 29:37 29 minutes, 37 seconds Uh we don't fully hedge the book. Uh we hedge about 80% of US dollar receivables. 29:44 29 minutes, 44 seconds So we will be able to capture some of the um depreciation upside of the FX depreciation upside but obviously not uh a lot. 29:54 29 minutes, 54 seconds And this last uh thing uh this year on the cash flow we have spent almost 250 cr in buying these shares by the trust. 30:03 30 minutes, 3 seconds So is it uh we are creating a pool which will help us to uh create a esop incentives for the leaders to perform. 30:14 30 minutes, 14 seconds So is it a right way to look at and that is where 250CR has been deployed in this year where we are buying from the market and keeping in the trust. 30:25 30 minutes, 25 seconds So the mechanics are right what you're saying. So the trust does buy from the market and adds to adds to its inventory 30:32 30 minutes, 32 seconds but this is not uh something that we have started this year. This um this 22 scheme has been in place for four years. 30:39 30 minutes, 39 seconds Before that there was a 2015 ESOP scheme which has been in place since 2015. So we've been doing this for about 10 30:47 30 minutes, 47 seconds years. Um I think the reason why it shows up or maybe you have noticed it uh is because a the amount is big because 30:54 30 minutes, 54 seconds when the trust buys from the market they pay the market price and as you know prior to December from April to December the uh market price climbed up quite a 31:04 31 minutes, 4 seconds bit right. So um to acquire the fixed quantity the trust had to spend more whereas there were years for example in 31:12 31 minutes, 12 seconds 2016 to 19 uh because part of the ESOPS which were linked to um uh performance they were not vesting so the trust's requirements itself were low. 31:24 31 minutes, 24 seconds Okay. Thanks and all the best. Thank you. 31:28 31 minutes, 28 seconds Thank you Sep. We have next next question from the line of Rahul Jane from Dalat Capital. Ra please go ahead. 31:38 31 minutes, 38 seconds Uh yeah hi uh thanks for the opportunity uh to your comment on the CLX uh business uh where you see slightly uh 31:47 31 minutes, 47 seconds better uh thing going forward. So is it led by existing customer trying to open 31:55 31 minutes, 55 seconds up uh spends or is it also led by some newer client addition in the segment? 32:02 32 minutes, 2 seconds Uh I think it's predominantly with existing clients uh because as you would see some of the large high-end fashion 32:08 32 minutes, 8 seconds and retail companies have declared like it's like I would just say that it's like some early green shoots that we are 32:15 32 minutes, 15 seconds seeing. Um I still am a little cautious on high-end fashion 32:23 32 minutes, 23 seconds and retail uh but it's large percentages from existing clients 32:32 32 minutes, 32 seconds and uh thanks for that and on the BFSI side uh what part of the uh sub segment 32:38 32 minutes, 38 seconds where we think uh things should continue to do uh well from this point and is there a specific area where you see some 32:47 32 minutes, 47 seconds bit of compression to happen because the commentary for the BFSI in general has been pretty mixed uh across players. 32:58 32 minutes, 58 seconds So Rahul I think uh the FCC is a area where I think we we have a pole position and we will continue to do well. 33:08 33 minutes, 8 seconds Uh I think it's also driven from a regulatory environment. So there are uh 33:16 33 minutes, 16 seconds that's the like in terms of if regulators increase or decrease what they want of the banks and financial 33:22 33 minutes, 22 seconds institutions that can have an effect on the overall spend. 33:28 33 minutes, 28 seconds Uh so that's something that uh we will continue to see evolve. uh I think if you were to ask me and then we are 33:35 33 minutes, 35 seconds beginning to see adjacent areas to whatever we were doing on the trade side securities life cycle 33:44 33 minutes, 44 seconds um is is where we are seeing uh some traction. 33:49 33 minutes, 49 seconds Okay, thank you. Just uh one small request. Uh you know last year also the way we started our commentary and the 33:57 33 minutes, 57 seconds way where we ended the year you know it it was a pleasant surprise of course but uh again we been talking in a way where 34:06 34 minutes, 6 seconds it you know kinds of do not give you a very good color while you are giving a optimistic thought in general. So uh if 34:15 34 minutes, 15 seconds you guys could consider at least giving a broader band just like you're giving it uh for the margin. So one could uh 34:23 34 minutes, 23 seconds have imagined or you know worked out better because we started the way it was more looking like we trying to indicate 34:32 34 minutes, 32 seconds uh a very different number but we did far better than that. It's always good to have that but uh nevertheless 34:39 34 minutes, 39 seconds uh a band even a broad band in case if we don't want to constrain oursel to a very small uh guidance base uh even that 34:49 34 minutes, 49 seconds would be of great help just a suggestion uh if you could consider. Sure. Thank you. We will look into it. 34:57 34 minutes, 57 seconds Thank you. 34:59 34 minutes, 59 seconds Thank you Rahul. Next question we have from the line of Shubam Satavis. Shoubam please go ahead. 35:12 35 minutes, 12 seconds This is Shubam from Asian market securityities. Am I audible? Yes. 35:17 35 minutes, 17 seconds I just have one question regarding AI deflation like how much AI deflation compan is building for the FI27? 35:26 35 minutes, 26 seconds Sorry, how much AI deflation is the company building required? 35:32 35 minutes, 32 seconds Uh so Shubam I think we are using AI as a differentiator uh uh to win the 35:41 35 minutes, 41 seconds business and it's not like a separate revenue stream or a inflationary or a deflationary 35:49 35 minutes, 49 seconds uh business like Shini was saying the rolloffs we continue 35:56 35 minutes, 56 seconds we don't expect any higher rolloff so 15 to 20% is what we see and uh overall growth we are confident 36:04 36 minutes, 4 seconds of delivering in the top quartile uh because the overall size of the market where we are relevant 36:12 36 minutes, 12 seconds uh is huge like we compliance manager one of the things I had indicated in the previous calls that we see opportunity 36:22 36 minutes, 22 seconds of uh this offering outside of financial services and we are beginning to see 36:30 36 minutes, 30 seconds traction there. So there are many things I think cross-ell upsell uh growing outside of top 10 accounts 36:39 36 minutes, 39 seconds uh looking at adjacent areas uh all the things that we had laid out uh when we had formulated 36:47 36 minutes, 47 seconds our strategy I think uh are yielding results with a very strong execution 36:54 36 minutes, 54 seconds mindset and control on costs because I think things are changing so rapidly So 37:01 37 minutes, 1 second I I think so my view is that from the financial performance that we have delivered for the full year in FI 37:10 37 minutes, 10 seconds uh 2526 is an indicator of uh strong execution and a strategy uh paying the benefits. 37:26 37 minutes, 26 seconds All right. Thank you. 37:28 37 minutes, 28 seconds Thank you Shubam. We have next question from the line of Girish Pay from Dob Capital. Girish, please go ahead. 37:38 37 minutes, 38 seconds Yeah, thanks for the opportunity again. 37:40 37 minutes, 40 seconds Um, I just want to know uh what was what was the margin walk for FI26 versus FI25? 37:47 37 minutes, 47 seconds What are the drivers of various drivers of margins and the wage hike? Will it be similar uh in in in terms of impact for FI27 versus 26? 37:59 37 minutes, 59 seconds Um yes the wage hike impact in Q1 will be similar uh so typically about 300 to 38:07 38 minutes, 7 seconds 350 basis points. Uh the margin walk from uh 25 to 26 roughly is you know that on delivery and support uh employees cost it was uh broadly flat. 38:20 38 minutes, 20 seconds Uh GNA and SND costs is where uh most of the margin improvement showed up. So GNA was about 80 bips lower. This is 38:29 38 minutes, 29 seconds primarily because of uh facilities cost about 40 bips there. Um and um other 38:36 38 minutes, 36 seconds costs about 20 bips and maybe tech about 10 bits or so. Uh selling and distribution costs is contributed to 38:43 38 minutes, 43 seconds another 20 bips. So that in total I think is the uh sort of 120 pips or so uh expansion in operating aida 38:52 38 minutes, 52 seconds and forex uh forex impact 39:00 39 minutes would have been yeah let me get back to you on that okay uh the book I will have to look at it separately yes I'll do that 39:09 39 minutes, 9 seconds right uh for fi27 uh do you think growth is going to be even across various quarters or do you think 1 H is going to be stronger than 2 H or vice versa? 39:21 39 minutes, 21 seconds I think uh at this point uh Girish like I said Q1 we expect to be stronger than Q4 39:30 39 minutes, 30 seconds uh quarter on quarter volatility uh may continue uh I think one quarter because like in terms of timing of 39:38 39 minutes, 38 seconds closure so you have closed a deal in Q1 instead of Q2 because or it got pushed 39:45 39 minutes, 45 seconds over to Q2 uh for some reason so that those abrasions will continue. I think I won't want to comment which half will be 39:54 39 minutes, 54 seconds stronger whether H1 or H2. Uh we do expect Q1 definitely to be stronger than Q4. 40:02 40 minutes, 2 seconds Okay. 40:02 40 minutes, 2 seconds And overall here we like I said we are confident uh whether this deflationary on AI and whatever that we'll be in the top port. 40:12 40 minutes, 12 seconds I know uh Brahul had mentioned that can we give a ban we'll consider it but I think we compare in the overall 40:21 40 minutes, 21 seconds industry macroeconomic environment I think it's a good benchmark to have to be in the top quartile of the peer 40:28 40 minutes, 28 seconds segment right uh you mentioned you won a decent sized agentic AI project was this a 40:35 40 minutes, 35 seconds competitive situation and what was the reason behind your win uh so to 40:42 40 minutes, 42 seconds I would say strong delivery as well as uh domain u client connect strong delivery and 40:51 40 minutes, 51 seconds domain would be the top three reasons and yes uh uh it was competitive we 40:59 40 minutes, 59 seconds operate in a uh competitive landscape u so this so yeah 41:06 41 minutes, 6 seconds uh are you seeing any new competition any new AI first startups uh with lean teams kind of trying to uh 41:15 41 minutes, 15 seconds you know enter the competitive scenario that you are in right now. 41:21 41 minutes, 21 seconds I think there are a lot of AI startups are coming in. I think every day I'm sure there are startups that are coming 41:29 41 minutes, 29 seconds on AI because this is a hot field. Are we seeing any impact of those startups in our client conversations in the pipeline in conversions? 41:40 41 minutes, 40 seconds Uh we haven't seen that in a meaningful way. 41:44 41 minutes, 44 seconds Right. Uh and uh you I think you mentioned something like 90 million being the data and analytics number 41:51 41 minutes, 51 seconds for the year. Uh will this be a big growth driver for you in 27 and 28? 41:59 41 minutes, 59 seconds AB tech and analytics is a focus area for us. So it'll we we we expect that it has to grow faster than 42:08 42 minutes, 8 seconds the company growth uh which has been the case this year and we'll continue to aspire for that and uh yes that's that's the aspiration. 42:20 42 minutes, 20 seconds And lastly, uh any color from a vertical standpoint as to what will drive uh growth for you in FI27 uh which will 42:28 42 minutes, 28 seconds probably outperform your company growth or underperform your company growth. 42:35 42 minutes, 35 seconds I think we are cautiously optimistic on all the four verticals 42:43 42 minutes, 43 seconds given the client conversations that are happening. Like I said, high-end fashion and retail is something that 42:50 42 minutes, 50 seconds uh I would be little cautious. The other one, high-tech 42:56 42 minutes, 56 seconds uh is is something that I think uh we are optimistic and we we should see higher growth. 43:07 43 minutes, 7 seconds Uh I think that's that's really where I would like to leave in terms of the growth across the vertical. 43:16 43 minutes, 16 seconds Okay, thank you very much. Thanks. Thanks. Thank you, Girish. 43:24 43 minutes, 24 seconds We have next follow-up question from the line of uh Chinme Neymar. Chinme, please go ahead. 43:33 43 minutes, 33 seconds Uh hi sir, hope I'm all Yes. Yeah. 43:37 43 minutes, 37 seconds Uh so two questions from my side. Uh firstly if you could give some uh little subjective or on ground sense about how 43:46 43 minutes, 46 seconds you're seeing the client expectation changing with respect to uh either the headcounts per project or uh filling 43:54 43 minutes, 54 seconds rates. Uh basically what you're seeing in new contract negotiations or in renewals. uh and the second question is 44:03 44 minutes, 3 seconds uh among the four verticals uh which segments are more susceptible to uh AI 44:11 44 minutes, 11 seconds automation and then uh which parts of business are uh better insulated. 44:24 44 minutes, 24 seconds So what was the first question? 44:25 44 minutes, 25 seconds Trends in uh contract negotiation with respect to head count or productivity. 44:31 44 minutes, 31 seconds So I I don't think we have seen any meaningful change in let's say this quarter or last 44:40 44 minutes, 40 seconds quarter or quarter before than what we have seen in the past. 44:45 44 minutes, 45 seconds uh because I think a we are being also very proactive in terms of deploying tech AI wherever we can. We are looking at AI across four broad spectrums. 44:59 44 minutes, 59 seconds uh client conversations uh around our products which I spoke about compliance manager, market 360 and 45:08 45 minutes, 8 seconds our other tools which are AI native uh which is the entire products 45:14 45 minutes, 14 seconds uh our own employees which I think I commented in in my opening remarks that 45:23 45 minutes, 23 seconds uh 15,000 people are using robo works cogn flows for internal. So how we are 45:32 45 minutes, 32 seconds deploying AI for our internal work and uh fourth is the operational efficiency proactively that we are 45:40 45 minutes, 40 seconds looking to say that this is uh and and I think what 45:47 45 minutes, 47 seconds technology is doing is because coding has become is getting democratized so you don't need someone who understands 45:56 45 minutes, 56 seconds the coding so people who understand the domain can write the prompts, build the code, take the value proposition to the 46:03 46 minutes, 3 seconds client and clients are seeing value in that. So I think we are this headcount 46:09 46 minutes, 9 seconds is a very like uh race to the bottom that how many headcounts productivity 46:18 46 minutes, 18 seconds I think you have to move the game beyond headcount and productivity to value that you're able to deliver. 46:24 46 minutes, 24 seconds And if you look at our client book and the marquee clients that we service, 46:29 46 minutes, 29 seconds they see value in what our ops/domain 46:35 46 minutes, 35 seconds teams are able to do by using uh these technologies 46:44 46 minutes, 44 seconds and in certain cases the clients have opened up and are like they are opening up for their own users. They're allowing us to use those as well. 46:54 46 minutes, 54 seconds uh because of the alpha that they see our teams can bring by working with them. So I I know I had given you a 47:01 47 minutes, 1 second long-winded answer uh but it's not like black and white right in terms of that 47:08 47 minutes, 8 seconds you can make it like in compartments. So and I think AI is AI the value comes in 47:16 47 minutes, 16 seconds when you are delivering the end outcome and end outcome you're delivering in conjunction with the clients in collaboration with the clients and the 47:25 47 minutes, 25 seconds entire ecosystem that's working in delivering that outcome. You're not operating in a in an isolated manner. 47:36 47 minutes, 36 seconds Get that sir and if you could also take the second question uh which is which areas 47:44 47 minutes, 44 seconds farther I I think services wise um like the industry and the market expected the 47:52 47 minutes, 52 seconds customer operations piece uh to have the highest impact. 47:58 47 minutes, 58 seconds uh we have seen the call volumes, chat volumes coming down but we have captured market share from our competition 48:05 48 minutes, 5 seconds because of the strong delivery and we have grown despite the call volume and chat volume shrinking. So that's that's 48:13 48 minutes, 13 seconds one piece on the on the on this entire thing. the entire creative 48:20 48 minutes, 20 seconds uh space is uh is prone which is where I think we have won some projects with uh 48:29 48 minutes, 29 seconds uh I think almost 12 or 18 months back we had inducted our CTO Sanjay into the board of CLX because we saw this coming 48:38 48 minutes, 38 seconds and we thought that it'll be a good he will be able to drive technology innovation and and all that 48:46 48 minutes, 46 seconds And on the FCC space I think uh it's the product where we are injecting AI and we 48:53 48 minutes, 53 seconds are making it AI ready. So I think uh so that's really where we are seeing we are ourselves saying that look and that's resonating well with the clients. 49:01 49 minutes, 1 second Uh so that's that's really I I think from the service kit that we have is is where we would say that the impact of AI 49:10 49 minutes, 10 seconds is and I think uh we take a lot of pride on our delivery. 49:14 49 minutes, 14 seconds we get the job done. Uh we are looking at FNA where we started with SMB 49:20 49 minutes, 20 seconds segment. Uh we run a large client and we are in discussions with them on 49:27 49 minutes, 27 seconds technology AI uh le transformation. 49:34 49 minutes, 34 seconds So I think uh I I see this as an opportunity as opposed to it uh as as a threat. 49:44 49 minutes, 44 seconds to us. Oh, got it. 49:48 49 minutes, 48 seconds Shying away and sorry and we are not shying away in cannibalizing our own revenue. There are instances where like whether it's client paid or our own investment. 49:59 49 minutes, 59 seconds Uh we are in here for long-term. So we are not and clients know that that we are not in a business of charging for headcounts and FFTs. 50:12 50 minutes, 12 seconds That's helpful sir. Thank you. Thank you, Chinay. 50:19 50 minutes, 19 seconds Reminder to participants to click on raise hand button to ask questions. 50:27 50 minutes, 27 seconds We'll wait for a moment. If no questions then we'll close the poll. 50:38 50 minutes, 38 seconds We have next question from the line of Pria. Pesh please go ahead. 50:47 50 minutes, 47 seconds So I joined a little bit late. I was in other call. Just wanted to check on the guidance that you have given for FI27. 50:54 50 minutes, 54 seconds If you could reiterate that and I'm sorry I'm making you ask uh if you have in case given it out. No retros. 51:03 51 minutes, 3 seconds I think uh what we are saying is that we are we will be in the top quartile of growth in FI27. 51:10 51 minutes, 10 seconds uh we would be in the aida range of 24 to 28%, I know some of you guys had asked that can we narrow that range u we 51:20 51 minutes, 20 seconds looked at it but we want to continue with the same band between 24 to 28%. 51:26 51 minutes, 26 seconds And we will show sequential aid growth Y on Y. 51:33 51 minutes, 33 seconds And sorry and I also said that our Q1 will be stronger sequentially than what Q4 has been over Q3. 51:41 51 minutes, 41 seconds Okay. And when you say top quartile the rel it's relative to what? 51:48 51 minutes, 48 seconds like the peer segment that you compare us with, we would be in the top quartile growth on the revenue. 51:56 51 minutes, 56 seconds Okay, done. Okay, sir. Operating revenue. Yes. Thanks. 52:02 52 minutes, 2 seconds Thank you, British. We have next question from the line of Vun Bang. Vun, please go ahead. 52:12 52 minutes, 12 seconds Yeah. Uh so more from two to three year perspective I want to understand how do you view uh the overall direction of e- 52:19 52 minutes, 19 seconds clubs uh you know across uh three four business verticles in terms of growth competitive positioning and also uh a 52:26 52 minutes, 26 seconds preparedness for uh the changes that we are seeing. 52:33 52 minutes, 33 seconds I think I directionally like I said I am uh cautiously optimistic across all our 52:40 52 minutes, 40 seconds industry segments. Financial services we are looking at adjacent areas uh in in addition to what we are 52:48 52 minutes, 48 seconds currently servicing and we are beginning to see traction in that. We are seeing new client additions uh and and clients that can give us meaningful growth. 52:59 52 minutes, 59 seconds uh uh for FCC we are seeing growth within financial services as well as outside of financial services. 53:07 53 minutes, 7 seconds uh our market 360 product on digital commerce uh average deal size 53:15 53 minutes, 15 seconds average client in terms of uh from uh let's say 53:21 53 minutes, 21 seconds uh now we are targeting fortune thousand even a bigger segment of clients around 53:28 53 minutes, 28 seconds retail CPG industry so uh that's that's resonating well our QA 360 quality audits that we do the martekch offering. 53:39 53 minutes, 39 seconds So overall I think uh basis the industry and the service offerings we have uh I 53:47 53 minutes, 47 seconds think we are good. We are also beginning to look at in terms of what are the adjacent capabilities that we need to start building which 53:56 53 minutes, 56 seconds will help us stay relevant beyond 2 to 3 years as well. So I think uh I see uh 54:04 54 minutes, 4 seconds I'm I'm optimistic in in two to three years time frame. It's difficult to say uh in terms of like yes there is can 54:13 54 minutes, 13 seconds there be an AI disruption. Uh I think no one has a view on what the end state would be. 54:19 54 minutes, 19 seconds uh all we know is that there will be lot of money that will get spent and uh we 54:26 54 minutes, 26 seconds want to take wallet share of the money that will get spent in this area. 54:34 54 minutes, 34 seconds Got it. And what are the challenges or uh let's say execution risk that you foresee uh from a near to medium-term perspective whether around pricing or 54:43 54 minutes, 43 seconds disruption of technology or talent or competitive intensity if you can share some perspective. I I think uh like this 54:51 54 minutes, 51 seconds uh NPRM guidelines on the contact center. I know NASCOM has also gone and lobbyed with the US Congress. If that 54:58 54 minutes, 58 seconds becomes a rule that uh cable companies can only Telos and cable companies can only outsource a certain percentage of 55:06 55 minutes, 6 seconds work and certain percentage of work has to stay within the US could pose a challenge. Like I said, we are discussing with our clients. 55:16 55 minutes, 16 seconds uh it's at initial stage but if it becomes a law then that could have some impact. 55:22 55 minutes, 22 seconds uh if uh regulatory environment uh like it was it became very stringent 55:29 55 minutes, 29 seconds for financial services and banks overall regulatory environment then it eased out became stringent so it goes 55:37 55 minutes, 37 seconds we'll be getting a new fed chairman now depending upon what happens on the overall regulatory environment that can 55:45 55 minutes, 45 seconds have an impact I I think uh we have to be nimble and 55:53 55 minutes, 53 seconds agile and see and there will be pockets of opportunities even if so we may have to move with bases what the overall 56:01 56 minutes, 1 second external environment is and see how we stay relevant and I think our ability 56:09 56 minutes, 9 seconds uh because a of our size uh a b because of our tech domain process startup 56:16 56 minutes, 16 seconds mindset I think we believe that we are able to pivot very quickly uh so I think uh so that that's that's 56:26 56 minutes, 26 seconds the other overall challenge I think overall competitive environment and industry 56:33 56 minutes, 33 seconds I think unless that there is from tomorrow we see something new coming in AI like as I said we are investing 56:41 56 minutes, 41 seconds uh no one knows the end outcome but we are ourselves investing building capabilities deploying it wherever relevant 56:50 56 minutes, 50 seconds and uh and that that's where we are on this journey. 56:55 56 minutes, 55 seconds Okay. Got it. And and from uh capital allocation perspective uh should we expect uh the focus to remain on buybacks or do you expect dividend uh 57:04 57 minutes, 4 seconds dividends becoming relatively better option? 57:07 57 minutes, 7 seconds No. Buybacks will continue to remain the preferred option. Sorry. 57:12 57 minutes, 12 seconds Buybacks will continue to remain the preferred option. Got it. Got it. Thank you. 57:21 57 minutes, 21 seconds We'll take the next question from the line of Abhishek Bandari from Namura. Abishek please go ahead. 57:30 57 minutes, 30 seconds Uh thank you Asha. Uh good evening to the management. I just had one question couple. Uh so you know last year you had indicated that the you know deal 57:37 57 minutes, 37 seconds bookings for FI 206 would be better than FI25 which actually turned out to be true. This year's deal booking are up almost 24% if I look at trading 12 57:46 57 minutes, 46 seconds month. Do you have any similar thoughts for FI27 in terms of deal booking? 57:50 57 minutes, 50 seconds Should one assume $40 to $50 million is now your new run rate on the quarterly booking side or we can give an annual you know thought around it. 58:00 58 minutes I think Abhishek uh it's a good question. We are aspiring and working towards uh increasing like showing a yearon-year growth on the bookings. 58:13 58 minutes, 13 seconds uh I think it's it's a function of a lot of factors. I think on acred revenue I can give you which is what I said that 58:22 58 minutes, 22 seconds on the operating revenue we'll be in the top quartile on the bookings our aspiration is to definitely show year-on-year growth but it's a little 58:30 58 minutes, 30 seconds difficult to predict uh because uh we showed a 24% growth and I I think we are optim like we are 58:39 58 minutes, 39 seconds working towards showing an increase on y on y on the bookings as well got it just a related question is you know 58:47 58 minutes, 47 seconds ID companies have started saying that you know uh in the booking they've started seeing the deflationary impact of AI. So for like to like you know for 58:55 58 minutes, 55 seconds same amount of work the bookings probably are not reflecting the reality. 58:59 58 minutes, 59 seconds Are you also seeing a similar thing where the deflation in the contract value is running possibly higher than the usual levels and that may be a 59:08 59 minutes, 8 seconds reason why you're shying away from you know definitely saying that FI27 bookings will be better than FI26. 59:16 59 minutes, 16 seconds some of it maybe Abishek I think the I I wouldn't say deflationary pressures because of AI but the competitive landscape will like I think that was to 59:24 59 minutes, 24 seconds the previous question so a combination of that may put some deflationary pressures and uh I think it's little 59:33 59 minutes, 33 seconds slightly early to say what sort of impact uh on technology it's very clear right because like as I was telling you the 59:41 59 minutes, 41 seconds coding has become democratized I think you need a lot of domain and functional expertise. So I I think on the 59:50 59 minutes, 50 seconds uh BPO/KPO and productized services where we operate uh I I I think yes and we are taking 59:59 59 minutes, 59 seconds proactive proposals as well which have AI built in uh where we are committing 1:00:06 1 hour, 6 seconds to outcomes, we are committing to uh bringing uh productivity transformation. 1:00:14 1 hour, 14 seconds So there I think uh uh yes there could be some deflationary pressure and it's not that I'm shying away it's a little difficult to predict uh like and like 1:00:23 1 hour, 23 seconds what you were saying last year yes we said we were coming out of uh I think what around 130 140 million uh dollar 1:00:32 1 hour, 32 seconds number and this year we are at about 170. uh like I said our aspiration is to 1:00:38 1 hour, 38 seconds uh probe uh the ACB number and all of us are working hard to see how we deliver on that aspiration. 1:00:48 1 hour, 48 seconds Thank you Capil and all the best for fiscal 27. Thanks. Thanks Abishek. 1:00:53 1 hour, 53 seconds Thank you. We top of the hour. So yeah we'll have just one last question from the line of Sepa. Sep please go ahead. 1:01:03 1 hour, 1 minute, 3 seconds Yeah, sorry, sorry for this. Uh, sir, just uh any comments regarding Enthropics yesterday announcement of the 1:01:11 1 hour, 1 minute, 11 seconds launch of Claude for the small business where they are saying it would be a packet of connectors and workflows that 1:01:19 1 hour, 1 minute, 19 seconds integrate with the AI assistant across business 15 uh ready to run workflows around finance, operations, sales, 1:01:27 1 hour, 1 minute, 27 seconds marketing, HR. So such kind of an announcement is a competitive threat or 1:01:33 1 hour, 1 minute, 33 seconds we can work alongside enthropic uh for helping client to run such kind of a process with the entropic tools. 1:01:44 1 hour, 1 minute, 44 seconds I think it's the latter sep and SMB segment predominantly is where we service uh our FDA business and we 1:01:54 1 hour, 1 minute, 54 seconds will be we we think that we can work with the uh client relationships that we have and the client connect that we can 1:02:01 1 hour, 2 minutes, 1 second work alongside with entropic to deliver to that outcome. 1:02:06 1 hour, 2 minutes, 6 seconds Okay. So sir basic understanding whenever entropic announces such kind of a tools uh it's not just plugand play 1:02:14 1 hour, 2 minutes, 14 seconds there has to be lot of foundational work which enterprise clients have to do to make a optimal use of the tool right 1:02:23 1 hour, 2 minutes, 23 seconds I think seep I'm I think it it would be best to ask anthropic what they have in mind and how they're talking to 1:02:31 1 hour, 2 minutes, 31 seconds enterprise clients I can tell you on our side how we are engaging with the clients and the client conversations I'm we are having with them. 1:02:41 1 hour, 2 minutes, 41 seconds Okay. Okay. Thanks sir. 1:02:43 1 hour, 2 minutes, 43 seconds Thank you Sep. Uh with this we'll conclude this call. I'll hand over the call to management to for the closing remark. 1:02:52 1 hour, 2 minutes, 52 seconds Thank you everyone and thank you for uh your support and look forward to meeting uh all of you in our next quarter in Q1. 1:03:00 1 hour, 3 minutes Thank you. 1:03:01 1 hour, 3 minutes, 1 second Thank you everyone. This concludes uh Q4 FI26 earnings call of E- Club Services Limited.