Bertrandt had a soft quarter in Q1 FY20 (corresponding to calendar Q4 2019): revenues were flat (+0.4%) to EUR 263m, impacted by project delays, and reduced utilization rates in its Digital Engineering (DE) unit (-3.0%). DE, Bertrandt’s largest unit (55% of revenues), suffered from Germany OEMs shifting their R&D spending to digital.
Alten’s revenues in Q4 slowed down to a growth of +7.3% yoy (at CC/CS ), following double-digit CC/CS growth during Q1-Q3 2019. The company suffered from a demanding comparison basis (+13.7% in Q4 2018), and one lesser working day in several countries (a 0.15% impact on the group’s revenues).
Tech Mahindra made a surprise move in semiconductor engineering services. The company is to acquire Cerium
Wipro announced a mild growth in the revenues of its Industrial and Engineering (I&E) business unit in Q3 FY20: I&E revenues were up by 3.1% only (to USD 151m). Revenues included a small contribution from the recent ITI acquisition and were impacted by the market conditions in the semiconductor industry and softness in 5G adoption.
Bertrandt had a mixed Q4 FY19 performance with revenues up 2.6% and an EBIT margin of 5.2% (down 330 bps). For the full year, revenues reached EUR 1,060m, up 3,8%, within the guidance range the company had provided (EUR 1,041-1,071m).
Automotive engineering pure-play KPIT continued on its growth momentum in Q2 FY20 (+15.2% yoy), enjoying a satisfactory EBITDA margin of 13.4%. KPIT’s financial performance was, however, a notch below that of Q1 both in terms of revenue growth (Q1: +19.3%) and margin (14.6%).
We don’t usually comment on the financial performance of ER&D service vendors beyond their financials. But this time, this is a little bit different: Akka Technologies raised yesterday EUR 175m in convertible bonds, a significant amount for Akka, which has a market cap of EUR ~EUR 1.2bn.
Capgemini’s acquisition of Altran will be delayed by up to six months. Edge Fund Elliott has, through intermediaries, brought, the case to court. The initial ruling on December 4 will decide if the acquisition will be suspended. A final ruling will occur by end of the March at the latest.
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EDAG’s financial performance in Q3 2019 was very similar to that of Q2: revenues were down
HCL Tech’s ERS accelerated its yoy growth in Q2 FY20 to +15.0% at CC, from +13.3%. Its EBIT margin also increased from 16.0% in Q1 to 21.4% in Q2. The financial improvement results from mostly a catch-up effect: ERS recognized revenues in Q2 that it could not in Q1.
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Altran’s CC/CS revenue growth in Q3 2019 reached +6.0%, to EUR 779m. The company slowed down somewhat from Q1: +8.1%, and Q2: +6.8%, despite the improvement in its operations in North America.
ÅF Pöyry’s revenue growth (yoy, at CC/CS) continued to decelerate this quarter, declining from +8% in Q1 to +1% in Q3 2019, despite the positive impact of an additional working day (+90 bps on revenue growth during the quarter). The company suffered from the same issues as in Q2: a slowdown in the automotive sector from its largest automotive client, (impacting Industrial & Digital Solutions Division) and delayed decision-making in the Infrastructure Division in Denmark.
It has been almost three years since Accenture launched Industry X.0, and we estimate that Accenture acquired nine competitors in these 36 months. The pace is accelerating with Accenture having five competitors in 2019, YTD.
During its Q2 FY20 earnings call, Wipro provided some light about the performance of its Industrial & Engineering Services (E&IS) unit.
It is not so long ago that Wipro was corporate India’s strongest name for ER&D services, mostly servicing clients in the network equipment provider industry and also semiconductor manufacturers.