Stockrabit
TECHM · Quarter ended Mar 2024

Tech Mahindra Limited analyst Q&A

2024-04-25
Moderator

Thank you. We will now open the call for Q&A session. We will wait for a few minutes until the queue assembles. We request participants to restrict to two questions and then return to the queue for more questions. Please raise your hand from the participants tab on the screen and ask the question. The first question is from Sudhier.

Sudhier

Hi Mohit, thanks for the insightful presentation. Just a couple of questions. When you say higher growth than peers and peers average margins, so who is the benchmark here? Which are the firms that we are considering as peers?

Mohit Joshi

Sure. So, look, I think we will lay out the peer definition more clearly, but it is very clear who our peers are. It is the top six or seven players in the industry. From margin perspective, we have given a very clear ambition of reaching 15% EBIT by FY27. So, there's a fairly clear aspiration where we expect to be from our current levels of profitability.

Sudhier

Got it. And is this 15% a hard sort of a cut off wherein if you go above 15% that will be reinvested back into the business to sort of drive growth and position ourselves as a growth company or anything on top of this 15%, you will let that flow into margin structure. How to think of it?

Mohit Joshi

So, look, I think we wanted to set a stake in the ground. We wanted to make sure that we have the commitment from our leadership team to hit a certain minimum level of profitability. As we get to that point in time in the next three years, we will obviously have to make a decision about what trade -offs there are to reinvest in the business or to grow further. What I also want to stress is that, like I said, our longer term ambition beyond FY27 is to be among the top three in terms of EBIT profitability. So, we will also weigh that into account.

Sudhier

Got it, Mohit. And one last question, if I may. Historically, we have been very acquisitive. And now that you are saying 85% of the free cash flow is to be distributed over a five -year basis, does that mean acquisitions will take a backseat?

Mohit Joshi

In a sense, yes. In a sense, the focus will very much be on organic growth. Never say no to really compelling opportunities. But we are not in the market for a transformational M&A at this time.

Sudhier

Thanks, Mohit. All the very best.

Mohit Joshi

Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. The next question is from Rod.

Mohit Joshi

Hello Rod, how are you?

Rod

Hey there! I'm doing okay. Good to connect here, guys. So, Mohit, I just want to ask a big picture question. You have laid out an initial set of strategies here for your investors, and you seem to have some investment plans to back up those strategies. What is the main takeaway you are wanting investors to glean from the strategy messages that you are presenting here today?

Mohit Joshi

Thank you, Rod. So, look, I think what we really want investors to take away is that a lot of thought has gone into it over the past six to nine months. And in preparing for today, we have created the organization structure, in honestly, in record time. We have made sure that we have hired top talent from the market. We have made sure that we have got a plan for the internal organization. We have identified key areas and key avenues for growth, and we have set ourselves credible aspirations from a growth perspective. And these goals are well and clearly understood by our leadership team and by the broader organization. We will now focus on doing the right things and executing to the plan that we have built for ourselves. And obviously, we are, as I very honestly said, we are in the year of turnaround, FY25 is in the year of turnaround and in the year of turnaround, there will be a degree of volatility. We will reduce, damp down the amount of volatility over the next one year. And so, I want the market to understand that we have built a credible plan. The team is fully behind this. We have a really competent team. And while there will be some ups and downs, in the long run we are completely convinced that this is a really powerful platform and that we will deliver for our clients, for our employees, and for our investors. So, there is a huge amount of confidence in the very detailed plan that we have built and our ability to execute to this plan.

Rod

All right, great! So just to follow up on that, I want to ask about timeframes here. Can you talk about the timing of the growth investments you are going to be making? So, for how long are you planning to make those above normal investments that you menti oned? And I'm assuming there will be a lead time in reaping payoffs from those investments. So, I'd like to ask whether you are aiming for quick payoffs or whether your upcoming investments are really geared towards long term payoffs and fiscal 27 and beyond.

Rohit Anand

Yeah, maybe I'll take that. So, thanks for the question. So, as I mentioned, I think we are not thinking short term here, right? We are thinking long term how we make this franchise high performance driven organization, right. And from that perspective, as Mohit said, we want to make sure that it enables unlock of growth and enables unlock for a margin perspective. And for that, as I mentioned, we went through a detailed exercise, looked at all the avenues and basis that we are prioritizing our investments. Some are short term, but most of them are in long - term nature. For example, we are consistently going to hire freshers in a scenario where others are not. And hence that commitment to build long term improvement from an organization structure perspective is what will drive the outcome. Similarly, from a capability build perspective, we want to make sure based on the alignment or the benchmarking we have done, we invest in all those service offerings. We make sure that we are getting ourselves for future and not just for current. So that's very important, and from a time frame perspective, it is going to be above normal in the next twelve months because we have to set it up for long term. It will be probably 1 .5% of our margin, given we are not doing any M&A. We are very clear that we want to make sure we take everything organically. So that's going to be the quantum, and then as we move forward and we start seeing the benefit, it will probably reduce to half of that and then get embedded over a period of time on FY27.

Rod

Thank you, guys.

Mohit Joshi

Thank you, Rod.

Moderator

Thank you. The next question is from Kawaljeet.

Mohit Joshi

Hello Kawaljeet, how are you?

Kawaljeet

Yeah, I'm good, Mohit. Nice to hear the strategy presentation; quite a detailed one. A couple of questions or three if Rohit permits me to. The first question is for Rohit in that measures to improve profitability. I think there were some 15 -20, maybe 150 measures mentioned. Can you just highlight the top two or three that would drive the bulk of the margin expansion and the timeframes involved?

Rohit Anand

Yeah, sure. I think from a maximum impact perspective, when we look at it, our making sure that the organization structure, the pyramid of the organization is set right and in alignment where we should be. I think that's going to be the maximum impact. And from a timeline perspective, that's going to take time, right? That's why I'm saying we invest in it right now, we start seeing the benefit probably I would say anywhere between 12 to 18 months onwards. And it's going to keep on increasing significantly as we move forward. So, it is long term in nature, but the impact is going to be maximum. So that's one example. And then short term, I think we will continue to work. We have significant opportunities as we look in our portfolio companies, as Mohit mentioned, we are going to integrate them. They're offering their frontend and backend more strongly with us. So that's a short term one for this year. We will continue to work on our various other operating levers. When we look at our fixed price programs, the comp and benefit structure that we have, or the number of people we have in these accounts, how do we deploy more automation tools there. We are working on a huge set of initiatives on automating a lot of those workloads. So, that’s going to give us a benefit this year as we move forward. And then, the pricing. I think we are working on another steam of price improvements, and that again, would be short- term return-oriented, as we keep on enabling the whole infrastructure better to drive value -based pricing over a period of time.

Kawaljeet

That’s fair. The second question is for Mohit. Mohit, you mentioned speed and agility as the cornerstone for turn around or rather growth leadership at TechM. But don't you think that you have a unique disadvantage in which you neither have speed nor the benefits of agility, because you have a lopsided portfolio, which is telecom, in which you have scale, but that does not give you a lot. And then, you have what I would say, a thin layer of relationships across large verticals, in which you have to go actually with a challenger's mindset and may not get you a seat at the table in many cases. And the second part of the question inherent in your assumption, is that speed and agility for large companies is something which is missing, which need not be the case, because you have large companies which have both characteristics.

Mohit Joshi

Look, I think, you know, our proposition is not built around speed alone. Our proposition is built around scale at speed, right? So, it has elements of scale, which is you have a full -service offering, as also built around speed. Also, it isn't something that, sort of, we've pulled out of a hat. This has been built based on deep customer feedback, deep analysis of where there is a gap in the market, and what people essentially see the TechM promises being. If I look at our vertical mix, I agree that our largest exposure is to where we have significant scale. But we have a billion-dollar-plus business in financial services, we have a billion-dollar- plus business in manufacturing, we've got a sizable business in healthcare and life sciences across life sciences, payers, and providers, we've got an emerging business in retail, transportation, and hospitality. So, I do believe that within these businesses, if you look at these businesses, we really have top-tier clients already, we have permission to hunt in these clients. What we have not done so far, is a systematic program to tap into these accounts and to drive growth. So, I do feel that with a measure of tying the entrepreneurial energy of TechM with a degree of operating account discipline, the focus that we have on building out solution capability within the service lines, I do certainly believe i t is something which is achievable. I don't believe it's achievable overnight, which is why we're not giving you a plan for FY25. We're giving you a plan for FY27. But within a three -year period, I absolutely feel that the promise of the platform is realizable, married obviously to the strengths and capabilities of the broader group. If I didn't think so, I wouldn't be here.

Kawaljeet

Oh, fair enough. That's fair. The final question is that, in that three -year journey, do you have annual milestones that you want to share so that all of us are on the same page?

Mohit Joshi

Look, I think we have shared a broad perspective, in the sense that FY25 will be the year of our turnaround. And as we'd shared a short while ago when we announced the results, that we believe that Q4 marks the low point in our year- on-year growth journey, and that we will start turning around from Q1 onwards, and we expect to hit annual year-on-year growth by the end of the year. So, that is what we have said for FY25. By FY26, we expect that the new service line structure, the new vertical focus areas will start delivering results from a growth perspective, and that we will also start to see some early results from the investments that Rohit spoke about, and that the promise of these investments and the promise of the new structure will be fully realized in FY27. So, that's the sort of the sequencing and the steps that we've given from an FY25, FY26, and FY27 perspective.

Kawaljeet

That’s very helpful. Just a final question, Mohit. You had a number of acquisitions, or you have inherited a lot of acquired companies, and many of them have not been to the mark. Are you retaining the entire portfolio of companies acquired, or are you thinking of divesting ones which are not strategically important? And, I guess, we did have a discussion at some point in time in this aspect.

Mohit Joshi

Yeah, look, I don't think that we have made any decision to divest just now. We have obviously worked to closely integrate all of the portfolio companies much more closely into our service line structure. And because we have said that we are not going to be hugely acquisitive anymore, it gives us the ability to drive synergies, including front -end integration and including back -end integration, a lot more effectively over time. But there is no active disposition plan at this time.

Kawaljeet

Thank you so much, and all the best.

Moderator

Thank you. The next question is from Ankur.

Ankur

Hey, thank you. Thanks, Mohit, and thank you for the very detailed presentation. The business plan is definitely quite comprehensive, but I worry that given you mentioned everything in the textbook for better margins and better growth, is there a risk that at least analysts, if not investors, and the team also gets lost in the breadth for depth in these in itiatives? And if you can maybe highlight, you know, the 3 -4 main ones which the team, especially the middle to lower management team, can get a line behind?

Mohit Joshi

Sure, so I think, look, from a revenue perspective, the way that we have defined the organization, a very clear SBU structure, which is verticals within Geos, and a very clear service line structure. This gives an incredible amount of clarity to the organization, because the SBUs know exactly which accounts we want them to grow, they know exactly which accounts we want them to chase, and there is a very rigorous process of review, and of goal setting, that gives them a very clear sense of where we expect them to be headed in the year. Equally, from a service line perspective, the service lines are very clear about what we want them to do. Number one, we want them to provide resilience and quality of service to customers. Number two, we expect them to drive productivity. And number three, we expect them to drive innovation. So, the sales teams are very clear, and the service lines are very clear. It may seem like a trivial thing, but having this level of clarity in an organization is very, very important. So, I would say that is the first and most important change that we've made. The second thing goes to changing the institutional, sort of, capabilities of the company, right? Whether it's changing the capability from an HR perspective with our new CHRO, changing the capabilities from a marketing , advisor and analyst relationship perspective with Peeyush, changing the broader delivery capabilities through Atul, our new Chief Operating Officer, changing the capabilities from a learning perspective with the new Chief Learning Officer. So, we have made a deliberate effort… a deliberate sort of decision over the past six months to focus on creating the structure, to focus on creating the institutional capabilities, right? And I feel that, while this is a longer- term approach, this will yield greater long - term results. Like I'd shared at the start itself, we did a global leadership meet with close to 300 people just earlier this week in Bangalore. And all of you speak to people within the organization, right? There is incredible energy and there is incredible clarity in the organization about what needs to be done by each and every single person within the company. So, while obviously, we have a lot of initiatives, right? We need to be kicking off and executing on a number of things at a different point in time. For every individual in the company, there's a clear sense of what needs to be done. And for us as a leadership team, the measurement mechanism, the review mechanism is extremely robust.

Rohit Anand

Maybe, Mohit, I'll just add one more point. The one other change that we've driven to get the organization rally around it, is the plans that we've built, right, Is a bottoms-up plan with stretch that we've discussed and debated, right, and I think the ownership on that plan is their plan. So, the ownership… I think that's a cultural change and that's the way, Ankur, that the organization rallies around. It's much stronger. We're already seeing that impact in the global sales meet that Mohit just did. And as we move forward, I think that ownership will drive better outcomes as well.

Ankur

Super. Thank you so much for that elaboration. Second question is, the business environment is very tough, like you mentioned in your initial remarks. How much of these recoveries, both on the growth and on the margin side, is environment dependent, and a lso growth dependent? How much of this, especially on the margin side, can be done irrespective of how bad, if we just keep moving sideways for two years, it won't impact this journey?

Mohit Joshi

Yeah. So look, I think we have an expectation that we will be able to drive growth, especially in the second half of the year. But we're also quite sort of clear -eyed about the market environment, and we do expect… we're not… this plan is not built on a situation where growth suddenly takes off and lasts for a period of time. We obviously want to use this period of time, this slowness, to strengthen our capabilities and to build our institutional knowledge. So, I would say, the plan is built on the world not falling off a cliff, but it is not built on incredible growth, right? If the current market situation continues, I would still very much expect us to hit our plan numbers.

Ankur

Thank you. Last question. You mentioned somewhere in the presentation, Rohit, that you expect $250 million of savings a year. Is that a marker for margin recovery, is about 4% a year, or is that not inclusive of the incremental investment that you also highlighted initially?

Rohit Anand

No. So yeah, so savings is... So this is average for the three years. It could be up, down each year, but that's outside of the investment. So, this is the saving that we'll drive and then fund some of the investments we'll deliver to be able to get the margins walk that period.

Ankur

Okay. Thank you and best of luck.

Moderator

Thank you. The next question is from Kumar Rakesh.

Kumar Rakesh

Thanks for taking us through your strategy over the next three years. My first question was more from the near-term growth outlook. So, you are exiting FY24 on a low growth and second half, you went through restructuring of the businesses as well. So ideally, that should have helped you cyclically to recover some of those back into g rowth, and hence, start narrowing the growth relative to peers in this year as well. So is that a fair expectation that we would start seeing a narrowing down of growth and possibly meeting the peer average in FY25, or even that would be more pushed out to FY26 or FY27?

Mohit Joshi

No, I think that is a fair expectation. The only caveat is, obviously, we have a certain unique industry mix. In the sense that, we are differentiated from our peers through the industry mix. But with that sort of narrow caveat, I think your expectation is completely on point.

Kumar Rakesh

Great. Thanks for that. My second question was for Rohit. So Rohit, when you had joined, you had also started a margin expansion plan in which you were looking at many of the parameters that you talked about today as well, value-based pricing, utilizations upon cost pressure. Rather, you were running war -room sort of a setup as well to improve margin, and the expectation at that time also was to reach sort of 14 to 15% margin. And then a lot of things happened. So, what do you think this time is different and we will be able to achieve this? And many of the parameters that you have worked on earlier this time around will give different results. You did talk about consistency, but a little more detail would be useful.

Rohit Anand

Yeah, I think the key answer there is the foundation that we've changed. The organization structure change has created a lot of difference from where we were to where we are. So, when you look at the delivery, the delivery was embedded across the 12-13 SBU structures that we have, and a lot of them were as small as $100-$200 million P&Ls. And from there, what Mohit… when he came in and when we announced the off- structure change, from an operation perspective, we consolidated everything under a Chief Operating Officer who joined us in August. So that brings a lot of scale, a lot of benefit of that. And now when you look at the delivery, it's a consolidated organization. And we've kind of defined that under 6 ADMS verticalized structure and the 6 competency layers, and then the BPS additional to that. So, I think, that change and the ability to then drive all these actions, are much more impactful versus the way we were initially. So, I think you're right. I mean, from an industry perspective, if you go to anybody, I think actions would be similar. The differentiation is going to be execution. I feel the big differentiating sauce for us is the new structure. That's where I'm seeing a lot of confidence with Atul coming in and the team, the new structure that we have in driving this plan much better than before.

Mohit Joshi

And if I can just add to that, look, like I said, when we spoke about the new TechM Flywheel, we're very mindful of the fact that we have not delivered predictability in the past. And we're very focused on driving that predictability. Now, obviously in FY25, as we're in the middle of turnaround, there will be volatility. But every single thing that we're doing is focused on damping down that volatility over time, so that we're able to provide superior results, obviously, but more predictable results. That is very important for us because we've heard the feedback from all of you loud and clear.

Kumar Rakesh

That's really reassuring. Thanks a lot and all the best.

Moderator

Thank you. The next question is from Yogesh Agarwal.

Yogesh Agarwal

Hi guys. Hey, just quick questions. Firstly, clarification. So, the $ 250 million savings per year, they will happen consistently for the next three years, year after year. Is that correct?

Mohit Joshi

Yeah, that's right. That's right.

Mohit Joshi

That's right. Yes, it is.

Yogesh Agarwal

Okay, great. So, Mohit, I wanted to ask you something else on the billing rate. So in your sense, how are the billing rates for Tech Mahindra like-to-like for the skills and experience versus competition? And if you guys restructure the pyramid, is there a risk that the average billing rates actually come down?

Mohit Joshi

Yeah. I'll answer that question more broadly. I do feel that the billing rates by and large are comparable. But we do have an outsized fixed price portfolio within TechM. And obviously, within that, as is known, there are a couple of problem projects that we have. Secondly, while building out the pyramid may pose challenges from a billing rate perspective, as you mentioned, I believe that that tradeoff at the end will still be beneficial to us. The tradeoff will still be beneficial to us. Maybe you will have marginally lower billing rates, but you will have significantly lower cost. I also believe that it is the only way we can build an organization for the long term, right? So, a focus on the pyramid, but also focus on greater internal fulfillment. While the pyramid will yield us some benefits, I believe we will get a significant amount of benefits from greater internal fulfillment. And we can only have greater internal fulfillment if we're building out the training infrastructure. So, I think a combination of all these factors is what will deliver us the higher profitability.

Yogesh Agarwal

Okay, got it. And just one more question. The new deals which are coming today, which you guys are signing today and is flowing through the business, are they margin accretive?

Mohit Joshi

Yes.

Rohit Anand

Yeah, from an aggregate perspective, that's true, Yogesh. And then as you look at any deal structure, the way the transition happens initially, the first 6 -8 months, 12 months, initially there's always a dilution and then the expansion happens after that. So that's the nature of the deal structure, but generally these are more accretive deals that we sign.

Yogesh Agarwal

Sorry, so the initial dilution is on 7% or 15% target? That's all I was trying to understand.

Rohit Anand

No, no, I'm just explaining from a structure perspective, right? So when you look at the deals that we're signing today from an urgent perspective comparable to where we want to get to for FY25 at least and the year after, these are accretive to that, because you can look at it over the life cycle, right? But when you look at short-term, there's always a timeline of investments, right? For that period, they will not give you accretive margins.

Moderator

Thank you. The next question is from Ravi Menon.

Ravi Menon

Hi, thank you. Thanks for the detailed presentation. I think it would have been better appreciated over a full day analysts’ meet rather than a 90-minute call, but let's do it. Thanks for laying this out. Just wanted to check on the margin aspiration beyond FY27. So, we have TCS at the top end at 26% today, Infosys in the 20-21% range, and HCL below that around 18-19%. So are you saying that you'd actually get to 18-19% at least, or cross that going into 20%? And is that the aspiration?

Mohit Joshi

Yes, that is absolutely the long-term aspiration, Ravi. There is no reason why this platform, with the strengths of the group, with a deep engineering heritage, with the sort of client base that we have, should not be delivering in the top three of the peer groups.

Ravi Menon

And as a follow -up, since you're not planning on much acquisitions, why shouldn't we actually redefine that cash distribution? Instead of an FCF, why not use a net income hurdle? Perhaps that's lower , when looking at the cash conversion, but why not use that instead?

Rohit Anand

Yeah, so I think if you look at our history from a PAT to FCF perspective and look at cumulative, I don't think there's going to be much difference between those. And in fact, the way we're going to target our improvement in the cash cycles, we feel that we can get some benefit out of that as well. They're quite aligned, actually.

Ravi Menon

Thanks. So we should assume that those 85% will actually be… if you look at a net income percentage, it might even be higher than that. Is that correct?

Rohit Anand

Yeah. I mean, from a long -term period, yes. It varies year on year based on a particular event or something. But yes, over an aggregate, you're right. It should be similar or higher.

Ravi Menon

Great. Thank you. So understand then, that credit terms will actually probably only getting tighter on the new deals that you're looking at, rather than more generous.

Rohit Anand

Yes.

Ravi Menon

Great. Thanks so much, gentlemen. Best of luck.

Moderator

The next question is from Sandeep Shah.

Sandeep Shah

Yeah, thanks. Thanks for the chance and congratulations, Mohit, on a detailed presentation to you as well. The first question, Mohit is, if I look at the CME vertical contribution, although today it is 46%, and your aspiration to outgrow the market in FY27, do you budget CME contribution will come down? My question for asking this is, if it comes down, your growth aspiration for the non- communication business has to be much steeper versus the industrial growth rates, and are we keeping that angle in mind as well while riding this?

Mohit Joshi

Sure. But if you look at it, Sandeep, over the past couple of years, growth in communications has been lower than the industry average anyway, right? So that is the reality that we have. Now, very clearly, as I've said before, we are not de - emphasizing telecoms, we're not stepping away from telecoms. But as we revert to, sort of, a mean of our peer group, that will mean faster growth in other sectors. And so, therefore, rebalancing of the portfolio with a lower overall weight for telecoms, it is something that has been happening in any case over the past five years. And I do expect the process to continue.

Sandeep Shah

Okay. Second, Rohit, this saving of $250 million per annum for next three years, even in FY25, you expect minimum saving of $250, or it could be lower than $250 as well?

Rohit Anand

Yeah, I mean, this is, Sandeep, an average that I mentioned for three years. As I mentioned, some year it will be higher, some year it will be lower. But an average over a three -year period, that's the per- year average. And I think, as we move forward, as I mentioned to you, we'll be starting on a cycle where we're driving this under a set program. So, we'll continuously keep on updating you as well. As from an investment standpoint, it's an important period for us because it's long -term in nature and both need to go hand in hand. So, we continue to drive savings in excess of that, and at the same time, invest in long-term because capability build and expanding in certain areas is very, very important for long-term success.

Sandeep Shah

Yeah. And Mohit, you also said 4Q revenue run rate is at a low point. Are you believing YoY growth may take its own time? But on a QoQ, at least worst is behind on a going forward basis?

Rohit Anand

On YoY perspective, there'll be improvement from where we are right now, and we get better. That's the clarification. Yes.

Sandeep Shah

And last thing on the goodwill impairment. I s it the worst of the review has been done, or this is just a normal yearly exercise and the goodwill impairment as a pattern which has continued every 4 th Quarter in a financial year, and will continue going forward?

Rohit Anand

No, I think, Sandeep, we've done a quite comprehensive review of the portfolio. So we feel that this is the current performance, this is the right representation of where we are. As Mohit said, that we continue to integrate the portfolio companies much more stronger in the core business. And as we move forward, we will see how that shapes, and hopefully, that will give us better future projections for these companies.

Sandeep Shah

Okay. Thanks and all the best for your execution.

Moderator

Thank you. The next question is from Vibhor.

Vibhor Singhal

Hi, Mohit. Thanks for taking my question. And congrats on a great presentation, a very thorough one. My question to you, Mohit, was on the banking segment. You've been an expert in this field for so many years. Given the current environment that we see across the world in the banking segment, and given the portfolio that you have driven up till now and the portfolio that TechM has in terms of the banking vertical, what are the key c hallenges that you see at this point of time? And do you see that vertical… I mean, again, not looking at an actual number, but do you think that vertical will take time to recover in FY25, given the current macro that is there?

Mohit Joshi

Yeah. So, I do think that a lot of people have spoken about the recovery that is happening in BFSI in FY25. I do believe that the vertical overall will recover. From a TechM perspective, we have certain unique pockets of strength, which is why I think we'll be a competent late-mover. One of these is in core banking. We do feel that there is going to be a focus on core banking transformation really across the world, given the huge increase in volumes that you've seen and the instability of systems really across the world. We think there is a huge opportunity for us in the asset and wealth management space where we have some really compelling consulting credentials. We have a deep engineering expertise in insurance and a deep package implementation experience in insurance on the back of our Guidewire capabilities. So that is what we're going to be using to build out our financial services practice. We have some really marquee names already in the portfolio that I want to dig down much deeper. There are new clients that we're opening up on a very regular basis. And then there are certain sectors and pockets of strength that we will capitalize on. Now , I'm not saying that we will become the market leader in financial services by FY27, much though I'd hope to be. But I do believe that we will be a very compelling challenger very soon in the sector.

Vibhor Singhal

Got it. Thank you so much for answering that. Rohit, just one small question from my side. On the employee pyramid, you talked about rationalization and also about fresher hiring. Now, if you look at one important metric for the company over the last many quarters, is the utilization, including and excluding trainees. It has practically been the same for the past... I mean, you can name it 24 -30 quarters, which probably makes you believe that the trainees are very less in the system. So, I mean, we probably need to build up a bench strength. Do you think that is going to be a significant margin headwind the near term as we build those investments? And, how would that impact your margin expansion program that you're kind of taking into account?

Rohit Anand

That's a great question. As I mentioned, we've outplayed a critical percentage of our margin into investments. That's very critical. And this is one stream of the investment. Unless we don't invest in fresher talent, you're absolutely right, you've not seen a consistent fresher induction and that's why the percentage has remained static. In this quarter, in fact, you see a reduction in utilization. Some of that is attributable to, in fact, adding freshers. And as we go forward, we're going to be consistently applying that, because I think just focusing short term will not give us the right outcomes that we need, and this is an investment that's already baked in our plan.

Vibhor Singhal

Got it. Great to hear that. Thank you so much, guys. And wish you all the best.

Moderator

Thank you. That concludes our Q&A session.

Mohit Joshi

No, I just want to say I want to thank everybody for making time for us today. Like I’d shared previously, I do believe that we have created a very clear set of goals for the company. We have set ourselves very high standards. We will be consistently doing the right thing. And with all of these, I'm very confident that the platform has the capacity to deliver. We have set ourselves and before you, very clear objectives for what we hope to achieve in FY27 and beyond. And we look forward to keeping you updated on a very regular basis on our progress. There is a tremendous amount of energy in this very competent team, and you will start to see results very soon.

Rohit Anand

And we'll have a physical session soon.

Mohit Joshi

And, we will have a physical session very soon. Yes. Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of Tech Mahindra Limited, that concludes today's conference. Thank you for joining us. And you may now disconnect your lines and exit the webinar. Thank you. **********************************************************************************