Accenture posts strong Q2, warns of potential impact from Ukraine conflict

 

IT consulting firm Accenture Plc said on Thursday its operations could be adversely impacted if the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalates, as the sanctions on Moscow increase the level of economic and political uncertainty. Accenture forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates, but it excluded the impact of the war. The company said its forecast did not include "assumptions for a significant escalation or expansion of economic disruption or the conflict's current scope." Shares of the Dublin, Ireland-based company rose nearly 5% in premarket trading.

The stock has fallen nearly 22% so far this year. Earlier this month, Accenture said it was discontinuing business in Russia in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine. The company's revenue in Russia stood at $120 million during fiscal 2021. New bookings for the second quarter stood at $19.6 billion, lifted by demand for its cloud and security-related services as more businesses transform to hybrid work model. Analysts have also suggested that the enterprise software markets that include players such as Oracle and Salesforce are showing more positive trends in client spending. Revenue for the second quarter stood at $15.05 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $14.65 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Accenture, whose clients include more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500 companies across communications, media & technology as well as financial services industries, is also strategically investing in cloud, acquisitions and partnerships to gain more market share.

Citigroup plans 900 hires for commercial banking unit in Asia Pacific

 

Citigroup Inc's commercial banking unit will hire 900 staff over the next three years, a large part of which will be for the U.S. bank's Asia Pacific business, as it plans to fast-track growth. The U.S. lender said on Monday that along with launching in new markets and expanding its digital capabilities, the Citi Commercial Bank (CCB) unit is looking to ramp up its presence in high-growth and emerging markets. The bank, which currently operates in 60 countries and focuses on lending to mid-sized companies, said a bulk of the hires are expected to be in areas where it sees an increase in business activity, particularly the United States, China, Brazil, India and countries in Western Europe. The move comes at a time when the Wall Street institution has been cutting down its international footprint by exiting non-core markets. Chief Executive Jane Fraser, who took the helm last year, has looked to simplify the bank and bring its profitability more in line with its peers. In a separate statement on Tuesday, Citi said, as part of its global headcount expansion plan, it would hire close to 350 people, including nearly 200 commercial bankers, over the next three years to accelerate growth in the Asia Pacific region. The hiring represents the largest investment in headcount across the bank globally, it said. A majority of these hires will be placed in China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore. China and India will each get around 80 new hires. Hong Kong will add close to 100 people, while another over 30 will go to Singapore. The arrangement will strengthen Citi's services, including treasury and trade solutions, securities, and its collaboration with global wealth management. In 2021, the Asia Pacific business contributed 41% to the bank's global revenues of $2.7 billion.

Metropolis Healthcare open to acquisitions; IPO to hit Street on Wednesday

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Diagnostic firm Metropolis Healthcare, which is launching its Rs 1,200 crore initial public offering (IPO) next week, is open to make further acquisitions in this space. The company has used the inorganic route to growth in its initial years and made around 25 acquisitions in the past 18 years.

Sushil Shah, chairman of Metropolis Healthcare, said if a good acquisition opportunity came up, they were open to evaluate it. “We are growing at a decent pace and generating good free cash flow. With the IPO, around 50-60 per cent debt at the holding company level would be gone. It is also easier to raise funds when an entity is listed. Therefore, as and when a good opportunity comes up, we would be better prepared to crack the deal,” he said.

The Rs 650-crore company is focussing on business-to-customer (B2C) expansion in the coming years and would need to bolster its retail presence. “We have made several acquisitions in the past. These have all been leaders in the markets where they operated. It helps to make a strategic entry into a market,” said Ameera Shah, daughter of Shah.

She said that from a 43 per cent share of revenue from the B2C segment, Metropolis was targeting to take that up to 60 per cent in the coming years.

At present, it draws a significant chunk (57 per cent) of revenues from the business -to-customer, which comprises hospital outsourced pathology tests and institutional sales.


 According to Frost & Sullivan, the Indian diagnostics market was valued at about Rs 59,600 crore in the FY18, and is projected to grow at Rs 80,200 crore by FY20, driven by favorable changes in demographics, improvements in health awareness, increased spend on preventive care and wellness, increase in medical tourists, increase in lifestyle-related ailments and rising penetration of insurance in India.