Although revenues at Patni-enhanced iGate barely moved in Q4 (to 31st Dec. ’11) – up 1% qoq to $268m – operating margins leapt a full 5 points to 19.2%, pretty much back to the levels that Patni used to enjoy in its heyday. Indeed, iGate can now boast profitability even better than Tier 1 offshore services player, HCL (see HCL plays ‘local jobs’ theme as BPO losses mount). OK, there was the 11% tailwind from the weak Rupee, but I doubt that could have accounted for the full boost. I’ve yet to pick the bones out of the rest of the detail, but on the face of it, iGate grew faster in Europe than elsewhere. Anyway, I will be speaking with management soon to get some colour and movement.
There’ll be lots more on the UK/Europe financial performance of the India-based players in the next edition of OffshoreViews, which only those fortunate enough to subscribe to the TechMarketView Foundation Service will get to see. The rest of you will have to kick the ball around on on a distinctly unlevel playing field – or of course you can speak to our Deb (dseth@techmarketview.com) to start the levelling process!