DQ Top 20 IT cos' average rev $2 bn in FY '10

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The top 20 hardware and software companies in India had average revenue of $2 billion in 2009-10, according to the latest survey conducted by Dataquest, the flagship journal from the CyberMedia group.

However, the Top 20 companies just about managed to match the Indian GDP growth rate of 8.4 per cent in rupee terms to report a combined revenue of Rs.180,193 crore (USD 39.52 billion) in FY ’10 compared to Rs.174,605 crore in FY ’09, according to the survey.

The 24th annual survey saw the Top 20 IT companies - from both IT services export and domestic IT sector - post a mixed performance, with the eight fastest growing companies recording double digit growth. Fourteen companies had a revenue of billion dollars and above during the period.

The 5 fastest growing companies were SAP India (36 per cent growth to Rs 3,924 crore), HCL Technologies (25 per cent growth to Rs 10,983 crore), Dell India (25 per cent growth to Rs 5,275 crore), Cognizant Technology Solutions (23 per cent growth to Rs 12,741 crore) and Mphasis (19 per cent growth to Rs 3,920 crore).

Nine companies posting only single-digit growth included industry bellwethers TCS, Wipro and Infosys, which grew at 3 per cent, 5 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

Three of the Top 20 firms - hardware distributor Ingram Micro, IT hardware and solutions firm HCL Infosystems, and IT services player Patni Computers, recorded negative growth.

The top 200 IT companies posted total revenues of Rs 307,126 crore in the year, or a growth of 6.2 per cent (from Rs 289,093 crore in 2008-09).

The number of companies registering zero or negative growth this year rose to 68, compared to 28 a year ago, the study said.

However, there was no dearth of fast growing companies in the Dataquest Top 200 companies list. Growing sales of MicroSD cards, thanks to the exploding mobile markets, ensured that SanDisk’s growth crossed three digits (the only company in DQ 200). Kolkata based PC-maker RP Infosystems, with its Chirag brand of PCs, registered the second highest growth due to higher sales in the upcountry and government.

The fastest growing companies during the period - Sandisk (111 per cent), RP Infosystems (79 per cent), EMC India (78 per cent), Sai Infosystems (75 per cent), and Educomp (63 per cent) — primarily sold in India.

Commenting on the wide variation in the performance of the Top 20, Top 50 and Top 200 companies, CyberMedia publisher Pradeep Gupta said, "These mixed signals point to a robust de-risked model in a tough market, where different segments of the industry are trying to cope with industry challenges arising out of the slowdown of the last two years, while grabbing opportunities where they present themselves.”

“For example, many hardware vendors grew by changing their distribution models; and the distribution firms looked for newer methods to stay afloat. The aggressive and focused IT services companies are eying acquisition of companies, contracts and talent,” Gupta added.

Interestingly, in FY ’10 most of the distributors in tier two cities reported double digit growth and two of them made an entry in the Top 50 club. This is noteworthy because the biggest two distributors — Ingram Micro showed a dip in revenue and Redington, grew in single digit. The main reason is the growth of tier II cities along with the Indian economy, the study observed.