TEAMLEASE

** TeamLease Services TLSV.NS slips 4% to 1,900.15 rupees, lowest since August 2020

** Goldman Sachs Funds sells TLSV shares worth 175 mln rupees ($2 mln) in a block deal - exchange data

** Block deal at 1,960 rupees, below Tuesday's close of 1,980.05 rupees

** Indian markets were shut on Wednesday for a local holiday

** Stock rated "buy" on avg; media PT is 3,150 rupees - LSEG

** YTD, TLSV down 32%

($1 = 87.2425 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

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Jan 29 (Reuters) - India's TeamLease Services TLSV.NS reported an 8.3% drop in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, below Street expectations, dragged down by a jump in expenses.

The staffing services provider's consolidated net profit fell to 284.3 million rupees ($3.29 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, from 310 million rupees a year ago.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 310.5 million rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Its shares dropped 2% after the results.

A 19% rise in Teamlease's employee costs and a 34% jump in its subcontracting expenses pushed total expenses higher by 19.7% to 29.03 billion rupees.

In the third quarter, staffing companies were hurt by headwinds in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), and consumer packaged goods sectors, and as hiring was delayed because of the festive season, analysts have said.

Revenue from TeamLease's general staffing segment - which contributes over 90% to the total - rose 20%.

Revenue from its smaller specialised staffing business, which includes IT staffing services, dropped 7%.

Its total revenue rose by 19.5% to 29.21 billion rupees, above analysts' average expectation of 28.67 billion rupees.

"...we are planning to expand sales operations of IT staffing in Singapore and Middle East. Headwinds in BFSI may continue for staffing business on account of recent regulations issued by RBI (Reserve Bank of India)," TeamLease Managing Director Ashok Reddy said in a statement.

Peer Quess Corp QUEC.NS is expected to post results later in the day.

($1 = 86.5225 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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Dec 20 (Reuters) - TeamLease Services Ltd TLSV.NS:

• TEAMLEASE SERVICES LTD - TO ACQUIRE 90% STAKE IN TSR DARASHAW

• TEAMLEASE SERVICES LTD - APPROVED ACQUISITION OF 30% STAKE IN CRYSTAL HR AND SECURITY SOLUTIONS

Source text: ID:nNSE9m5tzb

Further company coverage: TLSV.NS

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Nov 6 (Reuters) - TeamLease Services Ltd TLSV.NS:

• Q2 CONSOL NET PROFIT 245.8 MILLION RUPEES

• Q2 CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 27.97 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE50051B

Further company coverage: TLSV.NS

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** Shares of India's Teamlease Services TLSV.NS drop 3.2% to 3,403.4 rupees, set to snap a four-session winning streak

** Staffing firm's Q1 profit missed estimates

** Mixed quarter, believe headwinds to be behind and margin likely to recover Q2 onwards - brokerage Motilal Oswal

** Out of 9 analysts covering the stock, at least three hiked PTs after results, lifting median PT to 3,455 rupees on the day from 3,330 rupees a month ago - LSEG data

** Day's move trims YTD gains to 6.3%

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

** Shares of staffing firm Teamlease Services Ltd TLSV.NS rise as much as 5.5% to 3,070 rupees

** Indian government proposes three schemes for employment-linked incentives in federal budget to incentivise formal sector employment

** Stock was up 0.6% before announcement

** More than 100,000 shares traded, 2.1x 30-day avg volume

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

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Repeats story initially published on July 21; no changes to story text

By Sahiba Chawdhary and Ira Dugal

PRAYAGARAJ, India/MUMBAI, July 21 (Reuters) - Sunil Kumar, a 30-year-old, has spent the last 9 years of his life chasing a job in the Indian government.

Packed with scores of others in makeshift classrooms under tin roofs with barely enough light and air, Kumar has spent years cramming for a variety of tests, including the prestigious civil services exam needed to get a job as a federal government bureaucrat. He has also tried for a provincial civil services post and two other tests for lower level government positions.

He has been unsuccessful in 13 attempts to get a job.

A resident of Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, Kumar says he will continue to try for a government job until he turns 32, three years short of the cut-off for him to appear in a civil services exam.

"There is more security in government jobs," said Kumar. "If it happens in 2-3 years, the struggle of 10 years will be worth it."

According to government figures, 220 million people applied for federal jobs between 2014-2022, of whom 722,000 were selected. Many of those would have been repeat attempts, but still, tens of millions of young Indians chase government jobs every year even though the economy is booming and the private sector is expanding.

The trend underscores cultural and economic anxieties facing many Indians. Despite living in the world’s fastest-growing major economy, many are grappling with an uncertain employment market where job opportunities, let alone job security, are hard to come by. Many see government employment as more secure than private-sector jobs in the world's most populous nation.

"If one person in the family gets a government job, the family believes they are settled for life," said Zafar Baksh, who runs a training institute for those appearing in tests for such jobs.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, student protests against reserved quotas in government jobs killed more than 100 people last week.

Since 2014, India's GDP has grown from $2 trillion to near $3.5 trillion in fiscal 2023-24 (April-March) and is expected to expand 7.2% in the current year.

The aspirants say the government offers lifelong security, health benefits, pensions and housing, which they may not get in private employment. Few will admit to it, but many of the government jobs also offer the prospect of money under the table.

Growing demand for the cram school classes has attracted large players and lessons have moved online too, said Baksh, who sees it as a lucrative and perennial business.

"There will always be demand."

NOT ENOUGH GOOD JOBS

Discontent over employment opportunities was cited by analysts as a key reason for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party failing to win a majority on its own in the April-May general election, and returning to power only with the support of allies.

Government data released this month showed 20 million new employment opportunities were generated in India each year since 2017/18 but private economists said much of this was self-employment and temporary farm hiring rather than formal positions with regular wages.

The government, which presents the first budget since the election next week, is likely to push job creation by giving tax incentives for new manufacturing facilities as well as by encouraging local procurement across sectors like defence, Nomura said in a note this month. But these will take time to yield jobs.

"It's not just that there aren't enough jobs out there, it's also that there are not enough jobs that pay well and give you security of tenure and other benefits," said Rosa Abraham, assistant professor at the Centre for Sustainable Employment at Azim Premji University in Bengaluru city.

For 22-year old Pradeep Gupta, who hopes to land a government job, working in the private sector is the "last option".

"There is honour, job security and less pressure" in a government job, he said, speaking in the Uttar Pradesh city of Prayagraj, a booming centre of cram schools.

Nearly 5 million students applied for 60,000 vacancies in the Uttar Pradesh police force earlier this year and an exam for the post of constable in central government security agencies saw 4.7 million applicants for 26,000 posts.

Another giving applicants a shot at positions such as office boys and drivers in government departments, drew close to 2.6 million applicants in 2023 for about 7,500 jobs.

Across all levels of government, including armed forces, schools, health services and the military, nearly 6 million jobs remain unfilled, India's main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, has estimated.

An email to the federal government seeking data on government employment and vacancies was not answered.

GOOD BUSINESS

For Maroof Ahmed, who has been running a cram school in Prayagraj since 2014, this has meant good business.

Currently, he says, his academy has five branches, tutoring close to 25,000 - 30,000 students a year through physical and online classes.

Success rates, or those who procure jobs, are low at about 5-10%, but demand remains high, he said.

No data was available on the number of such coaching institutes across the country since much of the industry is informal and unorganised.

The clamour for government jobs is as much about attitudes toward work as it is about the state of India's job market, said Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder of staffing firm TeamLease Services.

"The private sector is based on meritocracy and responds to economic ups and downs," she said. "In the government sector, once you get a job, mostly irrespective of your performance, your future is secure."
($1 = 83.6200 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sahiba Chawdhary in Prayagaraj, Ira Dugal in Mumbai; Additional Reporting by Saurabh Sharma in Lucknow; Editing By Raju Gopalakrishnan)

(([email protected]; +91-9833024892;))

Corrects name of Saurabh Sharma in additional reporting line, no change to story text

By Sahiba Chawdhary and Ira Dugal

PRAYAGARAJ, India/MUMBAI, July 21 (Reuters) - Sunil Kumar, a 30-year-old, has spent the last 9 years of his life chasing a job in the Indian government.

Packed with scores of others in makeshift classrooms under tin roofs with barely enough light and air, Kumar has spent years cramming for a variety of tests, including the prestigious civil services exam needed to get a job as a federal government bureaucrat. He has also tried for a provincial civil services post and two other tests for lower level government positions.

He has been unsuccessful in 13 attempts to get a job.

A resident of Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, Kumar says he will continue to try for a government job until he turns 32, three years short of the cut-off for him to appear in a civil services exam.

"There is more security in government jobs," said Kumar. "If it happens in 2-3 years, the struggle of 10 years will be worth it."

According to government figures, 220 million people applied for federal jobs between 2014-2022, of whom 722,000 were selected. Many of those would have been repeat attempts, but still, tens of millions of young Indians chase government jobs every year even though the economy is booming and the private sector is expanding.

The trend underscores cultural and economic anxieties facing many Indians. Despite living in the world’s fastest-growing major economy, many are grappling with an uncertain employment market where job opportunities, let alone job security, are hard to come by. Many see government employment as more secure than private-sector jobs in the world's most populous nation.

"If one person in the family gets a government job, the family believes they are settled for life," said Zafar Baksh, who runs a training institute for those appearing in tests for such jobs.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, student protests against reserved quotas in government jobs killed more than 100 people last week.

Since 2014, India's GDP has grown from $2 trillion to near $3.5 trillion in fiscal 2023-24 (April-March) and is expected to expand 7.2% in the current year.

The aspirants say the government offers lifelong security, health benefits, pensions and housing, which they may not get in private employment. Few will admit to it, but many of the government jobs also offer the prospect of money under the table.

Growing demand for the cram school classes has attracted large players and lessons have moved online too, said Baksh, who sees it as a lucrative and perennial business.

"There will always be demand."

NOT ENOUGH GOOD JOBS

Discontent over employment opportunities was cited by analysts as a key reason for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party failing to win a majority on its own in the April-May general election, and returning to power only with the support of allies.

Government data released this month showed 20 million new employment opportunities were generated in India each year since 2017/18 but private economists said much of this was self-employment and temporary farm hiring rather than formal positions with regular wages.

The government, which presents the first budget since the election next week, is likely to push job creation by giving tax incentives for new manufacturing facilities as well as by encouraging local procurement across sectors like defence, Nomura said in a note this month. But these will take time to yield jobs.

"It's not just that there aren't enough jobs out there, it's also that there are not enough jobs that pay well and give you security of tenure and other benefits," said Rosa Abraham, assistant professor at the Centre for Sustainable Employment at Azim Premji University in Bengaluru city.

For 22-year old Pradeep Gupta, who hopes to land a government job, working in the private sector is the "last option".

"There is honour, job security and less pressure" in a government job, he said, speaking in the Uttar Pradesh city of Prayagraj, a booming centre of cram schools.

Nearly 5 million students applied for 60,000 vacancies in the Uttar Pradesh police force earlier this year and an exam for the post of constable in central government security agencies saw 4.7 million applicants for 26,000 posts.

Another giving applicants a shot at positions such as office boys and drivers in government departments, drew close to 2.6 million applicants in 2023 for about 7,500 jobs.

Across all levels of government, including armed forces, schools, health services and the military, nearly 6 million jobs remain unfilled, India's main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, has estimated.

An email to the federal government seeking data on government employment and vacancies was not answered.

GOOD BUSINESS

For Maroof Ahmed, who has been running a cram school in Prayagraj since 2014, this has meant good business.

Currently, he says, his academy has five branches, tutoring close to 25,000 - 30,000 students a year through physical and online classes.

Success rates, or those who procure jobs, are low at about 5-10%, but demand remains high, he said.

No data was available on the number of such coaching institutes across the country since much of the industry is informal and unorganised.

The clamour for government jobs is as much about attitudes toward work as it is about the state of India's job market, said Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder of staffing firm TeamLease Services.

"The private sector is based on meritocracy and responds to economic ups and downs," she said. "In the government sector, once you get a job, mostly irrespective of your performance, your future is secure."
($1 = 83.6200 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sahiba Chawdhary in Prayagaraj, Ira Dugal in Mumbai; Additional Reporting by Saurabh Sharma in Lucknow; Editing By Raju Gopalakrishnan)

(([email protected]; +91-9833024892;))

BENGALURU, May 22 (Reuters) - India's TeamLease Services TLSV.NS reported a 14.8% rise in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, led by growth in its general staffing business.

The company said consolidated net profit came in at 274.8 million rupees ($3.30 million) for the three months ended March 31.

Total revenue rose 20% to 24.32 billion rupees ($292.07 million), with the company's general staffing business that accounts for roughly 92% of the total, up 21%.

Revenue from its specialised IT staffing business increased 4.7%, compared with a 12.3% rise in the previous quarter.

Staffing solutions providers have been impacted by companies in the information technology sector slowing down hiring. For the financial year 2024, India's top IT companies reported either a net decline in headcount on a year-on-year basis or a small increase.

TeamLease said that headwinds in the IT industry "continued to impact the growth and profitability in specialised staffing".

The $254-billion Indian IT industry has been grappling with weak client demand and falling discretionary spending amid inflationary pressures and recessionary concerns, after gaining immensely from the pandemic-induced boom.

General staffing business revenue increased on the back of strong hiring in the fast moving consumer durables, retail, e-commerce and telecom sectors, the company said.

"While we have had a slight setback on BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) hiring for the past few months, the outlook from the second quarter of FY25 is shaping up well," said Managing Director Ashok Reddy.

Teamlease's shares rose as much as 8.1% after the results before closing 3.2% higher.

($1 = 83.2688 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Sohini Goswami)

(([email protected];))

April 8 (Reuters) - TeamLease Services Ltd TLSV.NS:

• TEAMLEASE SERVICES - CO AS ON MARCH 31 HAS NO OUTSTANDING LONG-TERM BORROWING OF 1 BILLION RUPEES OR ABOVE

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE283V6Q

Further company coverage: TLSV.NS

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BENGALURU, Jan 30 (Reuters) - India's TeamLease Services TLSV.NS reported a return to profit growth on Tuesday after four straight quarters of falls, as steady growth in the general staffing business made up for weak demand for specialised IT staffing services.

The company, which hires and trains people in several skills before supporting their placements, said its consolidated net profit rose 7% to 310 million Indian rupees (nearly $4 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31.

Overall consolidated revenue from operations rose nearly 22% to 24.45 billion rupees.

Steady hiring in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and consumer verticals helped the company notch strong growth in its general staffing business.

Revenue from the general staffing business, which accounted for about 92% of the total, rose nearly 23%.

Meanwhile, revenue from the specialised business rose 12.3%, even as key IT clients slowed or delayed hiring.

The $245-billion-worth Indian IT industry has slowed after gaining immensely from the pandemic-induced boom in digital services, as clients slashed spending on discretionary projects amid inflationary pressures.

"Our operating margins are improving steadily despite sluggish demand in specialised staffing," Managing Director Ashok Reddy said in a statement.

TeamLease's core profit margin expanded to 1.5% from 1.4% sequentially.

The company's Degree Apprenticeship (DA) business saw a net positive trainee headcount growth during the third quarter, aided by several government and private training programs.

DA business has turned net positive for the first time after the withdrawal of the National Employability Enhancement Scheme (NEEM), Reddy said adding that the scheme was discontinued in December 2022 and previously hurt quarterly results.

($1 = 83.1091 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

(([email protected];))

** Shares of Teamlease Services TLSV.NS soar nearly 20% to trade at 3,239 rupees, their highest since September 2022

** As per LSEG data, 52,635 shares changed hands in a block deal at 2,776 rupees apiece

** TLSV last up 8.6%

** If trend holds, stock on track to advance for five straight sessions - longest winning streak since August end

** Co gained 11.2% in last four sessions

** Stock most active since late-Aug in 2018 as more than 590,000 shares trade, 14.3x 30-day avg volume

** TLSV up nearly 17% YTD

(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; https://twitter.com/ramavenkat0607;))

By Savio Shetty

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Soaring attrition in India's financial sector will persist through next fiscal year due to a demand-supply mismatch, a senior executive at TeamLease, one of India's largest staffing services providers, said on Tuesday.

HDFC Bank, India's largest private lender, saw its employee turnover rate rise to 34% in the last fiscal year from 27.6% a year earlier. At Axis Bank, it climbed to nearly 35% from 31.6%.

Meanwhile, Kotak Mahindra Bank's attrition surged to about 50%, with smaller peer Yes Bank in tow at 43%.

"The demand for salespeople (selling personal, home, agriculture and other loans) is huge," Kartik Narayan, the chief executive for staffing at TeamLease, told the Reuters Trading India forum.

These employees are underpaid and undertrained and a salary hike of even 1,000 rupees ($12) per month is enough to make them switch jobs, he added.

Narayan expects this trend to continue, adding that employment in the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector is under "tremendous pressure", with frontline attrition rates persisting at 30%-40%.

Further, the central bank's measures to rein in unsecured lending will not impact the sector's employment needs, he said.

Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of India tightened norms for personal loans and credit cards, raising concerns about a potential slowdown in loan growth.

"I feel that (in the) immediate (future), perhaps there won't be an effect," Narayan said.

While the general staffing business is growing robustly, tech staffing is going through a different cycle, he added.

The hiring boom during the pandemic due to a sharp rise in demand for digital products has now moderated.

"Some of this (tech hiring) is also cyclical and we do expect it to start recovering in another two quarters," Narayan said.

(Join Trading India, a chat room hosted on Refinitiv Messenger: https://bit.ly/3TNDwkC)

(Reporting by Savio Shetty; Editing by Sohini Goswami)

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BENGALURU, Nov 8 (Reuters) - India's TeamLease Services TLSV.NS reported a smaller-than-expected drop in profit on Wednesday, as healthy growth in its general staffing business helped make up for a slowdown in its specialised IT staffing services.

The company, which engages in hiring and training people for several skills before helping placing them, said consolidated net profit fell nearly 15% to 272.7 million Indian rupees ($3.28 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30.

Analysts, on average, had expected a nearly 17% drop to 265.8 million rupees, according to LSEG data.

Teamlease's general staffing business saw strong revenue growth, driven by the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and consumer verticals.

The company's degree apprenticeship business saw a net positive trainee headcount growth for August and September, aided by several government and private training programmes.

This comes after the discontinuation of the government's National Employability Enhancement Scheme (NEEM) in December 2022 hurt previous quarters' results. The company said it expects placement for the remaining NEEM trainees to be completed by fiscal 2024.

"Staffing outlook has been positive on the back of strong hiring trends across all non-IT industry verticals," said Managing Director Ashok Reddy.

All of this helped Teamlease recover from weak demand in its specialised staffing business. IT service providers predict their clients will cut back on discretionary spending, including freezing hiring after a pandemic boom.

"Expect this year to be flattish from a revenue and margin perspective," Teamlease said, adding that uncertainty in IT staffing continued.

This is the company's fourth straight quarterly profit drop.

The revenue in its general staffing business grew 17% while the specialised business rose 3%. Consolidated revenue from operations rose 16% to 22.73 billion rupees, in line with analyst estimates.

The company's core profit margin slipped to 1.4% from 1.6% a year earlier due to a 16% jump in total expenses.

($1 = 83.2496 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Janane Venkatraman)

(([email protected];))

** Shares of India's TeamLease Services TLSV.NS up as much as 3.24% at 2,533 rupees, hitting their highest level since July 3

** Antique Stock Broking raises PT to 3,800 rupees from 2,700 rupees

** General staffing expected to see strong growth in coming quarters, robust hiring in Q2/Q3 due to festive season - brokerage

** Margin should improve from Q2 onward, Antique writes in a note

** More than 26,000 shares changed hands at 1:08 p.m. IST, 0.8x 30-day avg

** Mean recommendation of 10 analysts covering the stock is "buy"; median PT 2,800 rupees - LSEG data

** YTD, stock down 0.3%

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

By Ira Dugal and Siddhi Nayak

MUMBAI, July 27 (Reuters) - India's private lenders are contending with soaring attrition amid strong demand for loans and the rush to capture a larger share of the crowded market.

Credit demand grew 15% last financial year and is seen expanding 10-12% this year, driven by retail loans. This growth is mounting pressure on the frontline staff and a jump in employee turnover raising risks of mis-selling and service disruption.

HDFC Bank, India's largest private lender, saw its employee turnover rate over the last year rise to 34%, while Axis Bank was at nearly 35%. Kotak Mahindra Bank's attrition surged to about 50%, with smaller peer Yes Bank in toe at 43%.

"It is a problem the entire industry is grappling with," said Axis Bank CEO Amitabh Chaudhry on the lender's earnings call on Wednesday.

The bank is exploring various options, including career progression and training, to retain employees, Chaudhry said.

"Attrition happens when there is high demand for an industry's services and companies are pushing productivity, as is the case with financial services," said Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder of staffing firm Teamlease Services.

"We are seeing attrition mostly on the sales side which is a trend across the banking industry," Yes Bank CEO Prashant Kumar said in an earnings call over the weekend. The bank is working towards controlling it and would "not like to see an overall attrition of more than 25-30%," he said.

An entry-level relationship manager with up to two years of experience typically earns between 30,000-35,000 rupees ($792.66) a month, including incentives linked to the revenue they can generate.

Remuneration in the category has grown 8-10% annually over the past year, in line with the broader job market, Teamlease's Chakraborty said. "But staffers will try to maximize gains in a growing market by switching jobs if they have the opportunity," she added.

Exits are not just for salary upgrade but also for perks like flexibility in working conditions, said another banker who declined to be named. Most exits happen within six months of joining, this person added.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, which has seen the sharpest jump in attrition, saw the worst churn at junior levels, it said.

While the bank is seeing about 10% attrition at the senior level and 20% at the mid-level, attrition is nearly 50% at the junior level, said Shanti Ekambaram, whole-time director at Kotak Mahindra Bank.

"The bank is working on areas such as engagement, training and technology and automation to control attribution," Ekambaram said at the lender's post-earnings analyst call over the weekend.

High employee turnover can pose significant operational risks to banks including disruption in customer services and ethical issues, MK Jain, a deputy governor at India's central bank said in a speech in May. Jain has since retired.

($1 = 82.0023 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ira Dugal and Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)

(([email protected]; +91-9833024892;))

July 26 (Reuters) - TeamLease Services Ltd TLSV.NS:

• INDIA'S TEAMLEASE SERVICES JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 264 MILLION RUPEES VERSUS 265.3 MILLION RUPEES

• TEAMLEASE SERVICES JUNE-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 21.72 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 18.79 BILLION RUPEES

Source text for Eikon: [ID:]

Further company coverage: TLSV.NS

(([email protected];))

** Shares of staffing firm TeamLease Services TLSV.NS up as much as 5.3% at 2,264.75 rupees

** Stock posts biggest intraday pct gain since May 17

** Brokerage Motilal Oswal upgrades stock to "buy" with a target price of 2,890 rupees

** Progressive reforms and regulations will lead to formalization and increased penetration for staffing companies in India says Motilal Oswal

** The formal workforce is expected to almost double by 2030 to nearly 40%

** Estimates revenue growth to accelerate to 21% YoY in FY25, aided by a recovery in IT Services

** Of the 11 analysts tracking TeamLease, five rate it "buy" or higher, three "sell" or "strong sell" and three "hold;" median TP is 2,520 rupees - Refinitiv data

(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 8805175330 ;))

** Shares of staffing firm TeamLease Services TLSV.NS fall as much as 3.7% to 2,229.95 rupees

** Stock on track to snap three consecutive sessions of gains, if trends hold

** Co on Wednesday reported 22.4% fall in Q4 consolidated net profit, much steeper than the roughly 9% drop estimated, according to Refinitiv IBES

** Kotak Institutional Equities says FY2024-25 EPS estimates trimmed by 3% each on lower margin forecasts; retains "reduce" while raising TP to 2,300 rupees from 2,275 rupees

** Share price below 100-day and 200-day simple moving averages but above 50-day SMAs

** More than 35,000 shares change hands by 12:15 P.M. IST vs 30-day avg of 44,928 shares

** Avg rating of 11 analysts is "hold", with median PT of 2,600 rupees - Refinitiv data

** Stock down ~8.2% YTD, as of last close, underperforming Nifty 500 index .NIFTY500 which is down 0.1%

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru)

(([email protected] (+91 7982114624))

BENGALURU, May 17 (Reuters) - Indian staffing firm TeamLease Services Ltd TLSV.NS said on Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit fell more than expected, hurt by slowing revenue growth and weak demand, including from IT companies.

The company's consolidated net profit fell 22.4% to 239.4 million rupees ($2.93 million) in the quarter ended March 31, much steeper than the roughly 9% drop analysts, on average, had expected, according to Refinitiv IBES.

Teamlease, which hires and trains people in various skills before placing them in a raft of companies, had warned its margins would be under pressure due to soft demand and the discontinuation of the government's National Employability Enhancement Scheme (NEEM) in December.

The company said the scheme's discontinuation lowered its headcount by 9,000 from September to March, and lowered its revenue by 50 million rupees in the March quarter.

The company's specialised staffing services, which includes IT staffing operations, also took a hit, given the uncertainty among Indian IT firms as their U.S. and European clients cut back on spending.

Revenue in that business fell 4.5% in the latest quarter, accounting for less than 7% of total revenue for the first time in four years.

However, revenue from general staffing, TeamLease's biggest business, rose 13%, helping pull total revenue from operations up 11.5% to 20.27 billion rupees.

This is the second straight quarter in which total revenue growth came in below 15%, after six straight quarters of 20%-40% growth.

However, a 12.3% jump in total expenses outweighed the 11.5% revenue growth in the latest quarter and weighed on margins. Core profit margins fell to 1.7% from 2.3% year-on-year.

"Margins have come under pressure due to external variables impacting the higher-margin businesses of specialised staffing and degree apprenticeship," said Managing Director Ashok Reddy.

TeamLease's shares closed 2.68% higher at 2,316.50 rupees ahead of the results.

($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

(([email protected]; +91 7982114624;))