📸 At a Glance
From being a boring back-office guy to billing Fortune 500s for analytics, automation, and “customer delight,” eClerx has quietly turned into a ₹17,000 crore powerhouse. But is this silent compounder still worth its P/E of 31.5 — or has it finally outsourced its upside?
🧪 Part 1: The Boring Billionaire Business – What Does eClerx Even Do?
Imagine working with global financial giants, helping retail brands understand customers better, and doing all the dirty data work no one else wants to do. That’s eClerx — the most overqualified Excel operator in your portfolio.
- Founded: 2000
- Headquartered: Mumbai
- Niche: Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), KPO, Data Analytics, AI Ops
- Clients: Fortune 2000 across BFSI, Retail, Tech, Media, Telecom
🧩 3 Main Segments:
| Segment | What They Do |
|---|---|
| 🔧 Customer Operations | Technical support, automation, retention |
| 📊 Financial Markets | Reconciliation, data ops for top Wall Street firms |
| 🛍️ Digital & eCommerce | Cataloging, pricing ops, digital analytics |
It’s not glamorous — but it pays.
💰 Part 2: 5-Year Financial Performance — KPO = Kaafi Paisa Out
📈 Profit & Loss Snapshot (₹ in Cr)
| Year | Revenue | EBITDA | EBITDA % | Net Profit | OPM % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY21 | 1,564 | 450 | 29% | 283 | 29% |
| FY22 | 2,160 | 662 | 31% | 418 | 31% |
| FY23 | 2,648 | 723 | 27% | 489 | 27% |
| FY24 | 2,926 | 776 | 27% | 512 | 27% |
| FY25 | 3,366 | 808 | 24% | 541 | 24% |
🔍 TL;DR:
- Revenue up 2.1x in 5 years
- Profit up ~2x
- Margins slightly compressed (from 31% to 24%) — thanks, salary inflation & AI infra costs
🧪 Part 3: Quarterly Rollercoaster – Q-o-Q KPO Karma
| Quarter | Revenue | Net Profit | OPM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar ’23 | ₹693 Cr | ₹132 Cr | 30% |
| Mar ’24 | ₹767 Cr | ₹130 Cr | 26% |
| Mar ’25 | ₹898 Cr | ₹153 Cr | 24% |
⏱️ Recent trends:
- Growth is slowing, but steady
- Margins are stabilizing below 25%
- Profits still rising thanks to efficiency/automation
🧾 Part 4: Balance Sheet – Lean, Mean, Cash Flow Machine
| Metric | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from Ops | ₹365 Cr | ₹444 Cr | ₹493 Cr | ₹526 Cr | ₹655 Cr |
| Debt | ₹175 Cr | ₹163 Cr | ₹194 Cr | ₹266 Cr | ₹358 Cr |
| ROCE | 24% | 34% | 36% | 32% | 29% |
💡 Insight:
- Capex has increased, but ROCE remains healthy
- Still generates tons of free cash (FCF ₹500+ Cr/year)
🧑💼 Part 5: Promoters, Institutions, and the Silent Accumulators
| Shareholder | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promoters | 53.61% | 53.81% | 53.81% |
| FIIs | 12.64% | 10.27% | 10.12% |
| DIIs | 20.19% | 24.19% | 25.12% |
| Public | 11.52% | 10.38% | 9.49% |
📊 Key Moves:
- Promoters have held firm
- FIIs trimming (valuation?)
- DIIs are LOVING it — consistent accumulation
🥊 Part 6: Peer Comparison — Is eClerx Overpriced?
| Company | Price | P/E | ROCE | Margin | 1Y Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eClerx | ₹3,473 | 31.5 | 29% | 24% | +46% |
| Firstsource | ₹371 | 44.7 | 14% | 17% | +15% |
| Hinduja Global | ₹530 | NA | 2.9% | 5% | -10% |
| Alldigi Tech | ₹901 | 19.3 | 31% | 21% | +63% |
| One Point One | ₹52 | 40.6 | 15% | 14% | -5% |
📌 Verdict:
- eClerx = Expensive, but high-quality
- Others have lower P/Es but also lower profitability and FCF
- Alldigi is the only comparable in terms of margin and returns
💸 Part 7: Fair Value Range – What’s the P/E Limit Before It’s Just Greed?
- Trailing EPS: ₹110.37
- Justified P/E Range: 25x to 30x
- Fair Value Range: ₹2,760 to ₹3,310
- CMP: ₹3,473
🤔 Interpretation:
- Trading above upper valuation band
- Growth is steady, not hyper
- You’re paying a premium for consistency and quality — not for explosive upside
🎯 TL;DR Summary
✅ Rock-solid profit machine with ₹655 Cr cash from ops
📉 Margins compressing slowly – 31% ➝ 24%
📈 Stock is up 3.3x in 5 years (from ₹1,050 to ₹3,470)
🏦 FIIs trimming, DIIs loading
⚠️ Expensive, but not scammy — just fully priced for now
🔚 Final Diagnosis
eClerx isn’t sexy — it’s surgical.
This is not your AI-fueled multibagger fantasy — it’s your cash-generating KPO robot that keeps delivering quarter after quarter. The only real concern? You might already be late to the party if you’re buying now.
🩻 This is not a buy/sell reco — just a reality check before you outsource your common sense.
✍️ Written by Prashant | 📅 June 20, 2025
Tags: eClerx, KPO stocks, outsourcing India, IT services, smallcap IT, high ROCE stocks, EduInvesting, fair value, BPO stocks
