Quess Corp shares slide 10% despite strong Q4FY25 results post-demerger

Shares of Quess Corp tumbled nearly 10 percent in intra-day trade on Tuesday, May 20, even as the company announced strong financial results for the March 2025 quarter (Q4FY25). This was the firm’s first earnings announcement after completing its demerger, marking a new phase in its transformation as a standalone workforce management company.

Despite the market reaction, Quess delivered a solid operational performance, with its adjusted profit after tax (PAT) rising 49 percent year-on-year (YoY) to ₹63 crore in Q4FY25 from ₹42 crore in the same quarter last year. The strong bottom-line growth was supported by consistent revenue gains and a focus on cost optimization across key business verticals.

Resilient Performance Across Segments in Q4

Quess reported a 3 percent YoY rise in consolidated revenue to ₹3,656 crore in the March quarter, despite facing macroeconomic headwinds and sector-specific challenges, particularly in general staffing. The company’s EBITDA also rose 13 percent YoY to ₹67 crore, while EBITDA margins inched up to 1.8 percent from 1.7 percent in the year-ago period.

Key segments like professional staffing and overseas businesses continued to show strength. Professional staffing saw strong momentum with high-value hiring and new client additions in global capability centers (GCCs). Meanwhile, the overseas division recorded its best-ever quarterly performance in the Middle East, although headwinds in Singapore persisted.

On the back of this performance, the company’s board recommended a final dividend of ₹6 per share and approved a new dividend policy that proposes distributing up to 75 percent of free cash flow to shareholders.

For the full financial year FY25, Quess reported revenue of ₹14,967 crore, up 9 percent from the previous year, and EBITDA of ₹262 crore, up 12 percent YoY. Adjusted PAT for the year surged 54 percent YoY to ₹210 crore, reflecting consistent improvement in profitability.

Commenting on the results, Executive Director and Group CEO Guruprasad Srinivasan said, “We clocked revenues of ₹14,967 crore and an EBITDA of ₹262 crore, continuing our trajectory of non-linear growth.” He highlighted the stellar 42 percent YoY EBITDA growth in professional staffing, driven by tech-focused hiring and operational enhancements.

Srinivasan acknowledged challenges in general staffing due to the NBFC ramp-down but maintained that the business is now reset for strong growth in FY26. The demerger, he said, has helped sharpen the company’s focus, improve cost optimization, and position Quess to deliver a return on equity (RoE) of 20 percent.

Stock Price Trend

Despite the strong financials, the stock dropped to an intraday low of ₹336.60, down 9.9 percent. It currently trades 25 percent below its 52-week high of ₹448, hit in September 2024, though it remains 23 percent above its 52-week low of ₹267.83, seen in June 2024.

The stock has been volatile over the past year, losing 41 percent overall. However, it has shown signs of stabilization recently, gaining for four consecutive months—up 0.8 percent in May so far, 8.2 percent in April, 9 percent in March, and 0.2 percent in February. In January, however, the stock had plunged nearly 58 percent.

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