Dear Analyst,
It is my pleasure to highlight the business performance of the Sasken Group for the first quarter of FY 2018 - 19, ending June 30, 2018.
We must point out that certain statements made here or those we make subsequently in response to your queries concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements. Please read the Safe Harbor clause in the second slide of our our presentation for full details.
Let me begin by walking you through our financials for Q1 Fiscal 2019. In Q1 FY 2018-19, the consolidated revenues for the Sasken Group was up over the previous quarter to ₹134.27 crores. Consolidated Earnings before Interest, Depreciation, Taxes and Amortization cost for Q1 fiscal ‘19 were ₹20.72 crores, decline of 3.7% sequentially. Consolidated PAT for Q1 fiscal ‘19 was at ₹ 28.00 crores, up by 7.8% over the previous quarter. PAT margins for Q1 fiscal ’19 were 20.9%. Consolidated earnings per share, was ₹16.37 for the quarter. Cash and cash equivalents were approximately ₹482.8 crores as of June 30, 2018.
People
As a knowledge company our talent pool, which is among the best in the industry, is our core asset and is our key differentiator. In keeping with industry practice, we have completed the compensation review process and are in the process of communicating the same to employees. Sasken Compensation philosophy is based on ensuring external equity, internal parity rewarding performance, and technical proficiency. Additionally, we have made changes to policies across all functions to suit the needs of business better, while taking care to ensure they are employee friendly.
On the people front, the headcount for the Sasken Group stood at 1812 as of June 30, 2018. The attrition currently stands at 25.2 % for trailing twelve months. We continue to take all actions under our control to attract, retain and nurture our talent pool.
Utilization for the quarter averaged 81.4 % and is expected to be at similar levels in the coming quarters.
Customers
We have successfully added 4 new customers during the quarter taking the total number of active customers to 107.
I will provide key highlights of our Business spanning both Product Engineering and Digital Services with a commentary on the segments we serve therein.
Product Engineering Services
The investments we have made in achieving a leadership position to build products based on the Android ecosystem is of immense value to our customers. The continued proliferation of Android into newer segments owing to its robustness and user-friendliness has resulted in expanding our addressable market. The widespread use of connectivity and data has made devices and systems vulnerable to cyber attacks. Security is paramount in all smart devices and the ability to ensure that devices comply with the latest measures to prevent breaches in security is business critical. Sasken has pioneered the efforts to keep smart devices safe especially on older Android versions by evaluating and applying security patches.
Continuous innovation in the automotive segment, spearheaded by software is enabling infotainment, smarter instrument clusters, and safer driving experiences. Sasken’s solutions, addressing Infotainment and ADAS are seeing excellent traction with Tier-1s and OEMs. We are confident that there are growth opportunities for us in the medium to long-term in the automotive segment.
Our engagements with leading Semiconductor companies are primarily in the area of 4G, automotive electronics, and Android. Our business with a leading provider of silicon platforms for smart devices and mobility continues to see an uptick. We are confident that our long-standing partnerships with global leaders in the semiconductor segment will abet our growth.
Digital Services
We continue to build strong momentum in our Digital Services business. From a broader market perspective – we continue to capture the interest of customers and prospects across our verticals of industrial & manufacturing with a focus on smart products and industry 4.0. We are building on the in-roads we have made in providing intelligent mobility solutions for the transportation vertical. We are buoyed by the market traction for our digital offerings and are in the process of building a robust pipeline for our Digital business.
My team and I are grateful for the trust reposed in us and wish to assure you of our commitment to do our best for all stakeholders.
Rajiv C Mody
Chairman, Managing Director, and CEO
Sasken Technologies Limited
(formerly Sasken Communication Technologies Limited)
