We should look at a very strong FY23: Ravi Vishwanath, CFO, Quess Corp

Ravi Vishwanath, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Quess Corp Ltd, talks about the ongoing business situation and his outlook for FY23, the ongoing attrition trend termed as the "The Great Resignation", utilisation of funds raised by Monster.com, fundraising requirements and job environment in the country among others during a candid chat with Swati Khandelwal, Zee Business.

Edited Excerpts:

Q: How the business situation and outlook is looking as we get into FY23?

A: The business outlook is extremely positive at this point. We did have some weakness in the early part of Q4FY22 but as we have moved into Q1FY23, it is looking very strong. Most sectors have come back strongly, whether it is fintech, BFSI, manufacturing, telecom and e-commerce. The only sector, which has not come back is organised retail, malls and other areas. With the opening of the economy and with booster shots etc, we expect that to start picking up. With that, more and less complete, we should look to a very very strong current year in FY23.

Q: Attrition is at the highest level in a decade across sectors, what we famously call "The Great Resignation" now. What are the common reasons for this and in which sectors are you betting in terms of growth on going ahead in FY23 for the company if you can explain this vertical wise?

A: In most of the sectors we operate, resignation is not a big problem for us. We are used to it because this is a hand we have dealt with, so, we have learnt to play this hand over the last many years. The only challenge in the IT staffing, the margins we earn are high but at the same time, every candidate is walking with around 2-3 offer letters in his pocket. That is where we are leaving behind some business on the table, not being able to fulfil our requirements. But notwithstanding that, I think, we have to grow and the growth in IT has also been quite remarkable. We have made a shift from low margin to high margin mandate in the last two years. So, that is the only area that is bothering us a little but not much and that will settle down. We are used to seeing a 4-5% attrition in general staffing all alone. So, it is not something new for us. We have been habituated to seeing this drama of resignation and we have seen a lot of this before.

Q: You have recently raised Rs 137 crore valued at $100 million via Monster.com. How will you utilise this fund and what contribution in earnings should we expect from it in the next two years from now? 

A: A large part of the money would go to sales, marketing and product development. We have done a good job all these years and are trying to get the product back on track, where at least, we can completely turn that company around in the last two years from where it was, where we got external investors who come on the board. To show the confidence that this is a product and a company that has got a bright future as we go forward. We are also being helped by some tailwinds you know what I mean, the whole resignation and the recruitment drama we are seeing is also helping Monsters cause a lot. So, we will be spending a large part of the money on sales, marketing and product development. We do things over the next two to three years, we should be able to see fairly robust growth in the business itself. I don't want to talk a lot about what is going to be the impact of Monster for the current year as that would not be right on my part to talk right now where we are going through the silent period. But we do think that the current year there would be an impact on the overall margins of the company with Monster because a large part of the money will be spent in the current year. But by FY24, I think, the company should be able to break even and start contributing profits to us.

Q: Quess Corp has become the first company in its general staffing division to cross the 2,50,000 mark recently. How many more additions do you plan to make in FY23?

A: I don't want to talk too much about the numbers. All, I can tell you is that we are poised for some very good growth. In the last two years, we have done lots of good things. We have increased the sales team, we have improved processes, and we have increased cross-sell initiatives. We have built a lot of muscle over the last two years. All of that should start seeing good results henceforth. So, I would not like to put any number down there but you will start seeing some very healthy addition to these numbers. The market is really large. I don't think that many companies in the country can probably say that we can grow at 20% Year-on-Year for the next 15 to 20 years. We are one of those companies where we can put the stake in the ground and say we will grow at 20% for the next 20 years. That is an admissible market that exists for us. There are still lots of things that need to be done, for example, the labour reforms we are talking about for a while now. The labour reforms have not seen the light of the day yet. All these will only help our cause even more. But not with starting the labour reforms, I think, we will still continue to maintain the kind of momentum we have seen far. So, there are strong growth prospects.

Q: Are you looking to raise any capital by any instruments for any of your verticals where you can foresee growth opportunities and you may need funds for it, if yes, what would be its quantum?

A: I don't want to put a number but there are opportunities for the investors to look at. Just like, how we did something with Monster, there are other assets in our portfolio that can be monetized by us and we are contemplating some of those decisions, as we speak, maybe you will hear about it soon. But there are other portfolios, a kind of stocks or assets, that we have, which can be monetised and monetised well.

Q: There is a rise in the need to hire but the right skill set is that important. So, how big is this a challenge for the company to enhance the skillset across different verticals as it is a kind of need that is required with technological advent? Also, what kind of focus the country will have and what kind of spend will be made on it and what kind of opportunities do you foresee in it?

A: This is something that actually keeps us up because this is a problem area not just for us but for the country itself, where the productivity has been quite low. We have been trying to see how we can use our blue-grey collar hiring platforms, we have huge jobs and see how we can improve the skill sets of people at the lower levels. May at least, we can skill stamp them, trying them relevant for the jobs and so on. The government has also been doing its best but is it enough? I don't know. But definitely, this is an area that all of us in the whole country have to work towards to improve the skilling and the employability of all the future generations of our workforce. This is very important and the government has done a lot of apprenticeships etc but there is more to be done. 

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