Suhani Adilabadkar

Established in 2002, TeamLease Services is a leading human resource service company in India. The company is a one-stop provider of human resource services to industries across diverse functional roles, offering staffing, payroll processing, recruitment, compliance and training services. It has presence across the country in over 8 locations and with more than 2,250 clients and 1,685 core employees.

TeamLease has hired 17 lakh people over the last 17 years and has more than 2 lakh open jobs every day. The company delivers staffing services across various sectors, consumer durables, chemicals, manufacturing, media and telecom, retail, banking, financial services, insurance, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. It also operates India’s first vocational university and the PPP National Apprenticeship Program (NETAP). Present in all 29 states with a network of partnerships, the company has 6% market share in the Indian staffing industry. 

Quick Takes:

• TeamLease clocked a revenue growth rate of 15.3% YoY with its operating profit at Rs. 27.5 crore, growing 12% YoY in Q3FY20. 

• PAT stood at Rs. 26 crore in Q3FY20 against Rs. 25.2 crore in the same period, previous year rising 2.6% YoY.

• TeamLease.com saw 1 lakh job postings and 20 lakh applications in Q3FY20.

• The company acquired 74% stake in IMSI Staffing to get an entry into infra staffing vertical.

• The company is facing cost pressures. To improve margins,“staff costs have been brought down to Rs. 50 lakhs and we will continue cost rationalization in Q4 also”. Management aims to rationalize headcount and exit lower end projects in both verticals.

The headline numbers show some recovery...

TeamLease clocked a revenue growth rate of 15.3% YoY, moving from Rs. 1,172 crore in Q3FY19 to Rs. 1,351 crore in December quarter FY20. Operating profit stood at Rs. 27.5 crore for the quarter against Rs. 24.5 crore in the same period,  last year growing 12% YoY. Operating margin declined 6 bps YoY reported at Rs. 2% in Q3FY20 against 2.1% in the corresponding quarter FY19. PAT stood at Rs. 26 crore in Q3FY20 versus Rs. 25.2 crore in the same period, last year.

TeamLease.com saw one lakh job postings and 20 lakh applications in Q3FY20. Total employee/ trainee headcount is about 228,000 as on  December 31, 2019 with a quarterly net addition of 5,000 resources in Q3FY20. Commenting on Q3FY20 results, Mr. Ashok Reddy, MD, TeamLease Services said, “We have acquired a 74% stake in IMSI Staffing to get an entry into the infra staffing vertical and strengthen our specialized staffing offerings. We continue to drive growth while maintaining the realizations in staffing business”.

...but a closer analysis indicates underwhelming December quarter

The Indian staffing industry is valued at around Rs. 33,000 crore, growing at roughly 15-20% over the past five years driven by the formalisation agenda of the Government of India. Driving people growth in over 65 industries, the staffing industry provides temporary as well as permanent staffing solutions.

TeamLease, a market leader in the staffing industry has hired a person every 5 minutes since its inception. It is one of the largest temporary staffing companies with over 1000 temporary staffing clients, provides specialized staffing services to the IT and telecom industry, hiring services to freshers through its portal Freshersworld and offering high tech multi-user SAAS solutions through one of its latest acquisitions, Avantis Regtech Private Ltd.  

TeamLease has been reporting lacklustre growth over the past 3-4 quarters. In the December quarter FY20 as well, there has been margin deceleration and mundane bottom-line growth. Overall there have been 5,000 resource additions - 2,000 in general staffing after two quarters of downturn, 1,000 addition in NETAPP and 1,800 addition in specialized staffing. Mr Ashok Reddy said, “Overall there is positive trajectory compared to previous Q2 but YoY is low. This sequential positive mode of Q3 should continue in Q4FY20”.

The management acknowledged that the company did not witness a strong festive Q3 similar to the previous year and outlined three main reasons for lower growth. Firstly, a lack of aggression, investment in teams that increased internal cost, and holding on to price rather than reducing it to garner projects limiting its growth momentum. Coming to margin performance, a provision of around Rs. 1 crore pertaining to a particular client during the quarter impacted margin expansion in Q3FY20. To improve margins, Mr. Reddy said, “Staff costs have been brought down to Rs. 50 lakhs and we will continue cost rationalization in Q4 also”. 

NBFC, manufacturing and telecom were laggards whereas banking, eCommerce and digital wallet players have been exhibiting growth. Though general staffing revenues which contribute 90% of total revenues grew 15% YoY, margins declined from 2.1% a year ago to 1.6% in Q3FY20. For specialized staffing mainly constituting IT and telecom, revenues have declined 3% sequentially and going forward, management aims to rationalize headcount and exit lower end projects in both verticals.  

Apart from general staffing and specialized staffing segment, the HR services segment is also being refigured by the company by tapering off government training business due to collection issues, and focussing on a corporate training programme to augment its revenue growth trajectory. 

TeamLease has given guidance of 16% revenue growth and margins between the range of 2-2.1% for general staffing. Associate addition is guided at 10% growth and margins on PBT for IT is expected between 9.5% - 10%, for telecom, 2-3% range and for recently acquired IMSI, 10-11%. Markets are not enthused despite management optimism, and the stock has fallen since its Q3FY20 result announcement.