HAPPSTMNDS

March 20 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• ASHOK SOOTA RE-DESIGNATED AS CHAIRMAN & CHIEF MENTOR

• JOSEPH VINOD ANANTHARAJU RE-DESIGNATED AS CO-CHAIRMAN & CEO

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March 19 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• HAPPIEST MINDS TECHNOLOGIES LTD - ASHOK SOOTA APPOINTED CHAIRMAN

• HAPPIEST MINDS TECH - NAMES JOSEPH ANANTHARAJU AS CEO

• HAPPIEST MINDS TECH - NAMES VENKATRAMAN NARAYANAN AS MD, CFO

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Feb 19 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• INTRODUCES PROPRIETARY GENAI RESEARCH COMPANION

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** Happiest Minds Technologies HAPP.NS rises 3.3% to 719.30 rupees

** IT consulting and services co says it would buy entire Middle East business of Gavs Technologies for $1.7 mln

** Says acquisition will consolidate co's position within certain existing customers and grow its presence in Middle East

** Around 842,015 shares traded, 1.4x the 30-day avg

** HAPP fell 18% in 2024

(Reporting by Vijay Malkar)

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Jan 15 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• COLLABORATES WITH COCA-COLA BEVERAGES VIETNAM

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** Shares of Happiest Minds Technologies HAPP.NS are down 2.5%, hitting their lowest level since April 1

** IT consultancy and services firm posted 12.5% y/y drop in Q1 consol profit

** Stock on track to fall for fourth straight session, dropping around 3% in the period

** Nearly 1.2 mln shares traded, about 2x their 30-day avg

** HAPP down 15.8% so far in 2024

(Reporting by Nishit Navin)

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** Shares of IT firm Happiest Minds Technologies HAPP.NS fall ~7% to 850 rupees

** Co's shares traded in 30 blocks at 838.00-849.55 rupees/share, lower than Monday's close of 917.35 rupees, as per LSEG data

** According to media reports, co's promoter and executive chairman, Ashok Soota initiated a block deal to sell 6% stake in co

** Stock set to snap a two-day winning streak, if trend holds

** Including session's losses, stock down ~5.5% YTD

(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru)

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By Sai Ishwarbharath B

BENGALURU, May 22 (Reuters) - Mid-tier firms in India's $254 billion information technology sector took market share from industry goliaths in recent quarters as clients curtailed discretionary spending amid inflationary pressures and economic uncertainty, analysts said.

Unlike their larger rivals such as Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS and Infosys INFY.NS, mid-tier IT firms tend to focus on short-term deals aimed at helping clients cut costs rather than chase large-scale projects.

The practice has paid off in an environment of slowing demand in prominent markets such as North America and Europe.

LTIMindtree LTIM.NS, Coforge COFO.NS, Mphasis MBFL.NS and Persistent Systems PERS.NS are "increasingly viewed as challengers in (winning) Fortune 500 accounts, aiding the share gain process," Kotak Institutional Equities said.

The smaller companies could outperform their larger rivals further once discretionary spending improves, Kotak analysts Kawaljeet Saluja, Sathishkumar S and Vamshi Krishna said.

This should set the mid-tier IT firms up well as they try to win more budget-conscious clients in an economic backdrop where U.S. interest rates are expected to stay "higher for longer". Industry body Nasscom estimated overall revenue growth more than halved to 3.8% last financial year.

"In the current macro environment, clients are increasingly looking at service providers (that) deliver services at lower and predictable costs with better business outcomes," said Avinash Baliga, partner at consulting firm Avasant.

Persistent Systems CEO Sandeep Kalra and Mphasis CFO Manish Dugar confirmed the market share gains. India's larger IT firms did not respond to Reuters' requests seeking comment.

"We are able to hold our own and win against the larger piers as clients are looking for competency and not scale," Dugar told Reuters.

The market share of India's top five IT firms fell 17 basis points in 2023, reflecting the inroads made by the mid-tier IT firms, according to BNP Paribas data shared exclusively with Reuters. However, the top five IT firms still owned 88.35% of the market as of December 2023 among the top 10 firms.

On the stock market, share prices of Mphasis and Persistent Systems advanced 23.7% and 42.5% respectively in the last 12 months compared to a 16% gain in the broader Nifty IT Index.

In April, Infosys forecast fiscal 2025 revenue growth between 1% and 3% in constant currency terms, while most analysts had expected it to be at least in the range of 2% to 5%.

"Due to the sheer size they have reached, larger players have given muted guidance," said Ashok Soota, founder of mid-tier IT firm Happiest Minds Technologies HAPP.NS , which also gained market share. "We need to be humble about this as (our) market share is (relatively) small on the grand total."

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Shri Navaratnam)

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May 16 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• PARTNERS WITH SOLVIO

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May 9 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• UNIT IN USA EXECUTED AGREEMENT TO PURCHASE 100% MEMBERSHIP INTEREST IN AUREUS TECH SYSTEMS LLC

• AGREEMENT FOR CASH CONSIDERATION OF $8.5 MILLION

• ACQUISITION IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED BEFORE END OF JUNE 2024

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** Shares of Happiest Minds HAPP.NS up 2.2% at 823.10 rupees

** IT consultancy and services firm reported 25% YoY rise in Q4 consol profit; rev from ops up ~10% YoY

** Trading vol is ~5x the 30-day avg, stock's busiest day in over a month

** Stock trims YTD losses to ~7%; it gained ~2% in 2023

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

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By Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh

MADURAI/BENGALURU, April 25 (Reuters) - Indian engineer B. Ramachandran now prefers living in the smaller cities than the major tech hubs of Bengaluru and Chennai.

After the pandemic, the 47-year-old moved to Madurai, a temple town in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. He has no plans to leave his hometown, saying the chance to live with his ageing mother while working for New York-based technology services firm Genpact G.N is a "blessing".

IT companies are now expanding into smaller cities, in part to tap on workers like Ramachandran, and to capitalise on cheaper land costs, rents and wages.

Some are already finding it easier to hire staff in tier 2 cities, in contrast to before the pandemic when workers largely went from smaller cities into the country's major IT hubs for jobs.

"The HR and I used to drive down to Bengaluru and Chennai to interview experienced talent and convince them to move to Madurai," said Selvaganesh M.P, founder of IT firm SMI that was bought by mid-cap IT company Happiest Minds HAPP.NS in 2023. "This is no longer needed as the equation has changed after COVID-19."
U.S.-based Cognizant CTSH.O and India's Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, Infosys INFY.NS, HCLTech HCLT.NS and Wipro WIPR.NS, are moving into smaller cities due to cost efficiency, government incentives and availability of talent.

HCLTech has two offices in Madurai with 6,700 employees. It had originally aimed for 5,000 staff by 2025, which it exceeded, as a result of pandemic-induced demand. It also expanded its workforce in tier 2 locations such as Nagpur in Maharashtra state, Vijayawada in southern Andhra Pradesh state and Lucknow in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh since the pandemic.

Industry watchers say the trend to smaller cities helps companies reduce attrition and cut costs at a time when the $254 billion Indian IT sector is grappling with weak sales growth amid global economic uncertainty.

Employee salaries are 25%-30% lower and real estate rentals are around 50% cheaper than in established tech hubs, according to a report by Deloitte and industry body Nasscom.

BEYOND METROPOLITAN CITIES

Cognizant is trying to exit a major Chennai facility as part of its plan to cut real estate costs by $100 million by 2025, even as it opened an office in Bhubaneswar, in eastern Odisha state.

Tech Mahindra TEML.NS is running an initiative called "Nxt.Towns" to win talent in tier 2 cities, while Wipro is encouraging employees to relocate to its offices in smaller cities through "Project Lavender".

Wipro is offering employees twice the usual referral bonus for directing people to vacancies in Kochi in southwestern Kerala state, and Visakhapatnam city in Andhra Pradesh, according to emails seen by Reuters. It declined comment specifically on this development.

However, Wipro said it was making continuous investments in tier 2 and tier 3 cities and had set up offices in multiple emerging cities such as Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar and Guwahati to tap into talent and scale operations.

Cognizant did not comment, citing a silent period ahead of its quarterly results. Tata Consultancy and Infosys did not respond to emails seeking comment.
The trend by firms to decentralise has hurt demand for office space. The tech sector's share in India's top seven markets fell to 20.9% in 2023, its lowest in more than a decade, JLL data showed.

"The IT services sector has really struggled to get people back in offices," said Anshul Jain, India and Southeast Asia managing director at Cushman & Wakefield.

The change also comes as state governments offer stamp duty concessions, land benefits, subsidised power and other incentives to bring jobs to smaller cities.

And as jobs shift to these cities, so will consumption.

"What we're seeing is improving lifestyles in secondary cities, whether it's retail, entertainment, F&B services," Jain said, adding that tech hiring "certainly creates a spur in the economy".

"So, the IT industry's multiplier effects that we've seen in tier 1 could be seen in tier 2, if the experiment is successful."

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh; Additional reporting by Praveen Paramasivam and Rishika Sadam; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Jacqueline Wong)

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April 19 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• EXECUTED SHARE PURCHASE AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE 100% STAKE IN MACMILLAN LEARNING INDIA

• COST OF ACQUISITION 45 MILLION RUPEES

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April 16 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• DEVELOPS GENAI CHATBOT FOR HAPPIEST HEALTH

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April 15 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• MINDSCULPT ANALYTICS ENGAGES HAPPIEST MINDS TO BUILD ADVANCED AI MEDICAL PREVENTIVE & DIAGNOSTIC SOLUTIONS

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Feb 29 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• HAPPIEST MINDS PARTNERS WITH SECUREWORKS

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** Shares of Happiest Minds Technologies HAPP.NS are up ~4% in heavy vol

** IT services firm reorganises its vertical structure with new industry groups including industrial, manufacturing and banking, financial services and insurance

** Co says rejig to help achieve $1 bln revenue target by 2031

** Stock set for its best day in eight months, if trend holds

** HAPP sees most active session of 2024 so far, trading vols more than 4x the 30-day avg

** Stock down ~3% YTD after rising a marginal 1.7% in 2023

(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru)

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Feb 15 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• ANNOUNCED ITS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH SOROCO, AN AI CO

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Jan 17 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• INDIA'S HAPPIEST MINDS TECHNOLOGIES LTD DEC-QUARTER CONSOL PROFIT 596.2 MILLION RUPEES VERSUS PROFIT 575.8 MILLION RUPEES

• HAPPIEST MINDS TECHNOLOGIES LTD DEC-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 4.10 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 3.67 BILLION RUPEES

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** HDFC Securities (HSIE) initiates coverage IT services firm Happiest Minds Technologies HAPP.NS with "add" and a PT of 935 rupees

** The PT represents a premium of 11.4% to stock's last close on Monday

** HAPP has strong partnerships with high-growth platforms and is catching up with larger peers - HSIE

** Adds, co's margin profile boosted by lowest cost of delivery and low dependence on sub-contractors

** Brokerage expects HAPP's revenue to grow at 21% CAGR over FY24-26

** Faster recovery in discretionary spending in the sector and value accretive acquisition ahead can be positive triggers - brokerage

** Shares of HAPP closed down 0.19% at 837.50 rupees on Tuesday

** Stock down almost 5% YTD

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon and Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Happiest Minds Technologies HAPP.NS down 2.4% at 840 rupees

** The IT services firms reports nearly 2% Y/Y fall in Sept-qtr consol profit, hurt by a near 29% jump in employee costs

** Revenue for the qtr rose 14.4%

** But company also cuts FY organic rev growth forecast to 12%; it had earlier forecast 25% growth, without distinction between organic and inorganic

** Most IT firms have revenue struggles as a weak macro environment prompts clients to delay decision making, cut back, or even cancel, contracts

** HAPP is down 4.7% YTD, while the Nifty IT index .NIFTYIT is up 10.4%

(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru)

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May 8 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• INDIA'S HAPPIEST MINDS TECHNOLOGIES MARCH-QUARTER CONSOL PROFIT 576.6 MILLION RUPEES VERSUS PROFIT 521.1 MILLION RUPEES

• HAPPIEST MINDS TECHNOLOGIES MARCH-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 3.78 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 3.01 BILLION RUPEES

• FINAL DIVIDEND OF 3.40 RUPEES PER SHARE

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April 13 (Reuters) - Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd HAPP.NS:

• HAPPIEST MINDS TECHNOLOGIES LTD - HAPPIEST MINDS & NIELSENIQ BRANDBANK PARTNER TO SOLVE PRODUCT DATA & SHOPPER EXPERIENCE CHALLENGES

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