HCL names US-based COO as next CEO

Bengaluru: In a top-deck reshuffle that came sooner than expected, C Vijayakumar has replaced Anant Gupta as president and CEO of HCL Technologies. Vijayakumar, a 22-year HCL veteran, held several roles in technology, business and operational leadership positions, leading up to being the president of global infrastructure services before he was elevated as COO in July this year.
The reason for the change at this time is not clear.HCL, which has been among the growth leaders in the industry, has been losing momentum in recent quarters. But it continues to remain ahead of most of its peers. The company’s financial results for the quarter ended September, announced on Friday, showed revenue growing in line with street expectations. Sequentially, revenue grew 1.9% to $1.72 billion (2.8% in constant currency that discounts the impact of currency fluctuations). The growth was 11.5% compared to the year-ago period. HCL outperformed TCS that reported a near flat sequential growth.
Shiv Nadar, founder, chairman and chief strategy officer of HCL Tech, said Vijayakumar has been a transformational leader in the company, leading from the front. “His vision and flawless execution track record best positions him for taking our journey forward,” he said, adding that HCL had always identified emerging opportunities and pivoted early during market inflections. “Over the last couple of years, by organizing itself for transformation, the company has sustained consistency in its growth and has achieved a differentiated market position,” he said.
Vijayakumar has been instrumental in driving the company’s infrastructure services business, the business that has been primarily responsible for HCL’s good growth for the past several years. As is becoming a trend with leading IT companies, Vijayakumar will be based in the US, where he has been for some years. Infosys’ CEO Vishal Sikka and Cognizant’s CEO Francisco D’Souza are also based in the US — close to the clients and key technology partners.
The company said Gupta has left to pursue personal interests. Gupta has launched a technology investment firm Techcelx with a corpus of Rs 100 crore to invest in new-age digital ventures.HCL’s net income in the quarter was at $301 million, down 1.3% sequentially and up 14.2% year-on-year. “This was a quarter where wage hikes kicked in .We had earlier said there was supposed to be a 90 basis points impact due to wage hike that was offset because of the benefits of automation and platforms. There is a 40 basis points impact as expected,” said Vijayakumar.HCL has retained its FY17 guidance and expects its revenue to grow between 12-14% in constant currency. Its operating margin is expected to be in the range of 19.5% to 20.5% for the full year.
HCL to buy US co for $85m:
HCL has also entered into an agreement to acquire engineering and design services firm Butler America Aerospace for $85 million that caters to the US aerospace and defence customers. With over 900 highly skilled engineers and 7 design centres in the US, Butler Aerospace has a marquee list of clients in the aerospace & defence industries and works with OEMs and their suppliers.