Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

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Abhishek Bhandari: Got it. Thank you, Salil for that. Nilanjan, my final and second question is to you. So you commented that the salary hikes are under active contribution. So do you think this year, the hike cycle could differ compared to a usual cycle? And it could be more linked to when the growth comes back, we probably will be in a better position to give the hikes for employees?

Nilanjan Roy: No. Like I said, we are considering everything. Nothing to add more than that really in terms of timing or anything like that.

Abhishek Bhandari: Okay. Got it. Thank you and all the best.

Operator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Moshe Katri from Wedbush Securities. Please go ahead.

Moshe Katri: Thanks. In general, I think that Europe has been holding up really well…

Operator: Moshe, may I interrupt you? Sorry. Please use the handset. You’re not very clear.

Moshe Katri: Yes. So far Europe has really been holding up well much better than the U.S. Can you talk a bit about what you’re seeing in Europe, maybe areas where you are seeing some strength in terms of verticals? I’m assuming the U.K. is a big part of it. Is that trend continues based on what you’re seeing, i.e., is Europe still holding in there or is it also slowing down? That’s my first question. Thanks.

Salil Parekh: So thanks to your question. This is Salil. We saw good traction and we’ve seen that over the last several quarters in Europe, as you pointed out. We’ve seen that, especially in the manufacturing segment. We’ve had good traction in multiple geographies in Europe. So we have a good traction in the Nordics. We also announced a strategic win in the Nordics, which was public a few weeks ago. We have good traction in Germany, as you referenced, a good traction in the U.K. So we’ve had good traction so far. Now the macro environment, we feel, as Nilanjan also pointed earlier is definitely something that is affecting overall in Europe. So we are seeing within the segments we referenced, for example, Financial Services and the subsegments there in Telco, in some parts of retail, those being impacted in Europe as well and we’ll see how that plays out into the future.

Moshe Katri: Okay. And my follow-up is about an article that came out just recent in the local media in India, suggesting that there is an uptick in demand for lateral hires in the industry. And these hires will probably start happening in the month of October and on. Does that make sense to you versus what you’re seeing out there in terms of demand and pipeline and the ramp that’s kind of — as you said, it’s going slower than expected.

Salil Parekh: So for us, my sense is, again, some of the comments you might have heard earlier from Nilanjan, our utilization has gone up. Our total headcount number is reduced and we believe we have some headroom for the utilization to go up further. So that would be the context in which we are operating.

Moshe Katri: Understood. Thanks for the color.

Operator: Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mukul Garg from Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Please go ahead.

Mukul Garg: Yeah. Hi. Thanks. Salil, just wanted to kind of probe a bit further on the change in the guidance and I’m just focusing on the lower end of your previous guidance. When it does not look like the miss in Q1 from what you are kind of thinking about last quarter was that meaningful for the guidance at the lower end to come down so drastically. So is it fair to assume that the incremental slowdown which you have witnessed is more front-ended i.e. in Q2 or was there an expectation of a meaningful pickup in the business in the second half, which is now no longer there?

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