India?s fifth largest IT & software services company, HCL Technologies, said that it?s considering to acquire captive business process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology arms of banking and financial services companies in an effort to grow its business from the vertical.
Premkumar S, corporate vice president, financial services, HCL Technologies said, ?We are in talks with three-four players who have assets in India and the Asia-Pacific.?
Under captive carve-outs, software firms take over the assets of a captive entity and manage their services. Commenting on the business model of this initiative, Vineet Nayar, chief executive officer, HCL Technologies, said, ?The business model was yet to be proven.? He also refused to comment on a possible counter bid from HCL Technologies to buy out Axon.
Independently, the weak rupee will show up its impact on the coming quarter results, the company said. Anil Chanana, executive vice president, finance, HCL Technologies, said, ?As the rupee has depreciated, we will see some impact on the quarter ending September 30, 2008, but this will not be as significant as the last quarter.?
The company recorded a foreign exchange loss of Rs 300 crore in the fourth quarter ended June 30, after the rupee weakened over 7% against the dollar. The rupee has weakened over 5% to date in the current quarter which began July 1. As of June 30, HCL Technologies had about $1.9 billion worth in hedges, Chanana said. ?We aren?t taking any fresh contracts.?
HCL Technologies? fiscal year runs from July through June. The company?s stock closed on Monday at Rs 214.75 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, down 6.18% from Friday.