WNS Announces Fiscal 2022 Third Quarter Earnings, Revises Full Year Guidance

NEW YORK & MUMBAI, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WNS (Holdings) Limited (WNS) (NYSE: WNS), a leading provider of global Business Process Management (BPM) solutions, today announced results for the fiscal 2022 third quarter ended December 31, 2021.

Highlights – Fiscal 2022 Third Quarter:

GAAP Financials Revenue of $284.1 million, up 19.2% from $238.4 million in Q3 of last year and up 3.8% from $273.6 million last quarter Profit of $34.3 million, compared to $31.0 million in Q3 of last year and $32.1 million last quarter Diluted earnings per ADS of $0.68, compared to $0.60 in Q3 of last year and $0.64 last quarter Non-GAAP Financial Measures* Revenue less repair payments of $261.2 million, up 16.3% from $224.5 million in Q3 of last year and up 2.6% from $254.4 million last quarter Adjusted Net Income (ANI) of $44.4 million, compared to $41.0 million in Q3 of last year and $43.1 million last quarter Adjusted diluted earnings per ADS of $0.88, compared to $0.79 in Q3 of last year and $0.86 last quarter Other Metrics Added 11 new clients in the quarter, expanded 26 existing relationships Days sales outstanding (DSO) at 30 days Global headcount of 49,610 as of December 31, 2021

Reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures discussed below to our GAAP operating results are included at the end of this release. See also “About Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Revenue in the third quarter was $284.1 million, representing a 19.2% increase versus Q3 of last year and a 3.8% increase from the previous quarter. Revenue less repair payments* in the third quarter was $261.2 million, an increase of 16.3% year-over-year and 2.6% sequentially. Excluding exchange rate impacts, constant currency revenue less repair payments* in the fiscal third quarter was up 16.1% versus Q3 of last year and 3.4% sequentially. Year-over-year, fiscal Q3 revenue improved as a result of new client additions, the expansion of existing relationships, increased travel volumes, and currency movements net of hedging. Sequentially, revenue improvement was driven by broad-based revenue growth across most verticals and service offerings and increased travel volumes, which were partially offset by currency movements net of hedging.

Profit in the fiscal third quarter was $34.3 million, as compared to $31.0 million in Q3 of last year and $32.1 million in the previous quarter. Year-over-year, profit increased as a result of revenue growth, favorable currency movements net of hedging, higher net interest income, and a lower effective tax rate. These benefits more than offset the impact of wage increases and increased facility-related and travel costs. Sequentially, Q3 profit increased as a result of revenue growth, reduced share-based compensation expense, improved productivity and higher net interest income. These benefits were partially offset by wage increases, higher facility-related and travel costs, and currency headwinds net of hedging.

Adjusted net income (ANI)* in Q3 was $44.4 million, as compared to $41.0 million in Q3 of last year and $43.1 million in the previous quarter. Explanations for the ANI* movements on a year-over-year and sequential basis are the same as described for GAAP profit above with the exception of amortization of intangible expenses, share-based compensation costs and associated tax impacts, which are excluded from ANI*.

From a balance sheet perspective, WNS ended Q3 with $372.1 million in cash and investments and $8.4 million of debt. In the third quarter, the company generated $56.9 million in cash from operations and incurred $6.1 million in capital expenditures. Third quarter days sales outstanding were 30 days, as compared to 34 days reported in Q3 of last year and 31 days in the previous quarter.

“Despite ongoing pandemic-related volatility and pressure associated with tight global labor markets, WNS continues to perform well and deliver solid financial results in a healthy BPM demand environment. In the fiscal third quarter, year-over-year revenue grew 16.1% on a constant currency* basis while the company maintained adjusted operating margins* in excess of 21%,” said Keshav Murugesh, WNS’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our business model remains resilient, flexible, and focused on helping our clients leverage digital transformation to improve their competitive positioning.”

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the global economy, our clients’ businesses, and on WNS’s operations, financials, and visibility. Revenue has been pressured by lower client volumes, delays in new business ramps, client concessions, and facility lockdowns which impact service delivery. WNS is actively working to manage our clients’ changing requirements, adapt our service delivery models, ensure data security, and manage costs. In the fiscal third quarter, the company delivered more than 99% of our clients’ requirements. Going forward, impacts to our financial performance will be a function of how long the COVID-19 pandemic lasts on a global basis, and how long it takes our clients’ businesses to stabilize and recover.

Fiscal 2022 Guidance

WNS is updating guidance for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022 as follows:

• Revenue less repair payments* is expected to be between $1,008 million and $1,022 million, up from $868.7 million in fiscal 2021. Guidance assumes an average GBP to USD exchange rate of 1.35 for the remainder of fiscal 2022.
• ANI* is expected to range between $169 million and $173 million versus $141.7 million in fiscal 2021. Guidance assumes an average USD to INR exchange rate of 75.0 for the remainder of fiscal 2022.
• Based on a diluted share count of 51.2 million shares, the company expects fiscal 2022 adjusted diluted earnings* per ADS to be in the range of $3.30 to $3.38 versus $2.72 in fiscal 2021.

“The company has updated our forecast for fiscal 2022 based on current visibility levels and exchange rates,” said Sanjay Puria, WNS’s Chief Financial Officer. “Our guidance for the full year reflects growth in revenue less repair payments* of 16% to 18%, or 14% to 16% on a constant currency* basis. We currently have more than 99% visibility to the midpoint of the range, consistent with January guidance in previous years. For the year, we expect capital expenditures of up to $30 million.”

_________________________________________

* See “About Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and the reconciliations of the historical non-GAAP financial measures to our GAAP operating results at the end of this release.

Conference Call

WNS will host a conference call on January 20, 2022 at 8:00 am (Eastern) to discuss the company's quarterly results. To access the call in “listen-only” mode, please join live via the company’s investor relations website at ir.wns.com. For call participants, please use the following details: US dial-in [phone]; international dial-in [phone]; participant passcode 9934984. A replay will be available for one week following the call at [phone]; international dial-in [phone]; passcode 9934984, as well as on the WNS website, www.wns.com, beginning two hours after the end of the call.

About WNS

WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE: WNS) is a leading Business Process Management (BPM) company. WNS combines deep industry knowledge with technology, analytics and process expertise to co-create innovative, digitally led transformational solutions with over 375 clients across various industries. WNS delivers an entire spectrum of BPM solutions including industry-specific offerings, customer experience services, finance and accounting, human resources, procurement, and research and analytics to re-imagine the digital future of businesses. As of December 31, 2021, WNS had 49,610 professionals across 55 delivery centers worldwide including facilities in China, Costa Rica, India, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. For more information, visit www.wns.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions about our Company and our industry. Generally, these forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “will,” “seek,” “should” and similar expressions. These statements include, among other things, express or implied forward-looking statements relating to our expectations regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, our cost structure, the discussions of our strategic initiatives and the expected resulting benefits, our growth opportunities, industry environment, expectations concerning our future financial performance and growth potential, including our fiscal 2022 guidance, future profitability, and expected foreign currency exchange rates. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to worldwide economic and business conditions, our dependence on a limited number of clients in a limited number of industries; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our and our clients’ business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows; currency fluctuations; political or economic instability in the jurisdictions where we have operations; regulatory, legislative and judicial developments; increasing competition in the BPM industry; technological innovation; our liability arising from fraud or unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential client and customer data; telecommunications or technology disruptions; our ability to attract and retain clients; negative public reaction in the US or the UK to offshore outsourcing; our ability to collect our receivables from, or bill our unbilled services to our clients; our ability to expand our business or effectively manage growth; our ability to hire and retain enough sufficiently trained employees to support our operations; the effects of our different pricing strategies or those of our competitors; our ability to successfully consummate, integrate and achieve accretive benefits from our strategic acquisitions, and to successfully grow our revenue and expand our service offerings and market share; and future regulatory actions and conditions in our operating areas. These and other factors are more fully discussed in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F and subsequent reports on Form 6-K filed with or furnished to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available at www.sec.gov. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

References to “$” and “USD” refer to the United States dollars, the legal currency of the United States; references to “GBP” refer to the British pound, the legal currency of Britain; and references to “INR” refer to Indian Rupees, the legal currency of India. References to GAAP refers to International Financial Reporting Standards, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IFRS).

WNS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (Unaudited, amounts in millions, except share and per share data)
	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021			Dec 31, 2020				Sep 30, 2021
Revenue	$	284.1		$	238.4		$	273.6
Cost of revenue		187.5			150.3			180.8
Gross profit		96.6			88.0			92.8
Operating expenses:
Selling and marketing expenses		14.2			12.2			14.0
General and administrative expenses		37.1			31.3			36.2
Foreign exchange gain, net		(0.8	)		(0.1	)		(1.4	)
Amortization of intangible assets		2.9			3.3			2.8
Operating profit		43.2			41.2			41.3
Other income, net		(3.3	)		(2.6	)		(2.5	)
Finance expense		3.3			3.7			3.4
Profit before income taxes		43.2			40.2			40.4
Income tax expense		8.8			9.2			8.2
Profit after tax	$	34.3		$	31.0		$	32.1
Earnings per share of ordinary share
Basic	$	0.70		$	0.62		$	0.66
Diluted	$	0.68		$	0.60		$	0.64

WNS (HOLDINGS) LIMITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION (Unaudited, amounts in millions, except share and per share data)
	As at Dec 31, 2021			As at Mar 31, 2021
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	83.4		$	105.6
Investments		194.3			203.7
Trade receivables, net		97.4			83.1
Unbilled revenue		75.9			66.4
Funds held for clients		13.9			12.1
Derivative assets		9.7			8.0
Contract assets		10.8			7.8
Prepayments and other current assets		26.5			23.2
Total current assets		511.9			509.9
Non-current assets:
Goodwill		124.1			124.0
Intangible assets		65.9			65.1
Property and equipment		47.8			52.3
Right-of-use assets		152.2			166.8
Derivative assets		3.2			1.7
Investments		94.4			85.9
Trade receivables, net		—			0.3
Contract assets		35.4			27.1
Deferred tax assets		33.3			33.0
Other non-current assets		46.2			40.0
Total non-current assets		602.5			596.2
TOTAL ASSETS	$	1,114.4		$	1,106.1
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Trade payables	$	26.1		$	28.0
Provisions and accrued expenses		32.7			23.9
Derivative liabilities		3.6			4.5
Pension and other employee obligations		84.0			82.6
Current portion of long-term debt		8.4			16.7
Contract liabilities		13.0			12.7
Current taxes payable		2.4			1.5
Lease liabilities		26.2			26.0
Other liabilities		8.7			11.5
Total current liabilities		205.1			207.5
Non-current liabilities:
Derivative liabilities		0.6			2.0
Pension and other employee obligations		18.8			19.6
Contract liabilities		13.3			16.6
Other non-current liabilities		0.2			0.2
Lease liabilities		149.9			165.9
Deferred tax liabilities		9.9			10.2
Total non-current liabilities		192.7			214.6
TOTAL LIABILITIES	$	397.8		$	422.1
Shareholders' equity:
Share capital (ordinary shares $0.16 (£0.10) par value, authorized 60,000,000 shares; issued: 48,821,464 shares and 50,502,203 shares; each as at December 31, 2021 and March 31, 2021, respectively)		7.7			8.0
Share premium		100.6			227.7
Retained earnings		780.3			689.0
Other Reserves		1.9			—
Other components of equity		(173.9	)		(162.0	)
Total shareholders’ equity including shares held in treasury	$	716.6		$	762.7
Less: Nil Shares as at December 31, 2021 and 1,100,000 shares as at March 31, 2021, held in treasury, at cost		—			(78.6	)
Total shareholders’ equity	$	716.6		$	684.1
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY	$	1,114.4		$	1,106.1

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The financial information in this release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures that we believe more accurately reflect our core operating performance. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to our GAAP operating results are included below. A more detailed discussion of our GAAP results is contained in “Part I – Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” in our annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on May 14, 2021.

For financial statement reporting purposes, WNS has two reportable segments: WNS Global BPM and WNS Auto Claims BPM. Revenue less repair payments is a non-GAAP financial measure that is calculated as (a) revenue less (b) in the auto claims business, payments to repair centers for “fault” repair cases where WNS acts as the principal in its dealings with the third party repair centers and its clients. WNS believes that revenue less repair payments for “fault” repairs reflects more accurately the value addition of the business process management services that it directly provides to its clients. For more details, please see the discussion in “Part I – Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects – Overview” in our annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on May 14, 2021.

Constant currency revenue less repair payments is a non-GAAP financial measure. We present constant currency revenue less repair payments so that revenue less repair payments may be viewed without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, thereby facilitating period-to-period comparisons of business performance. Constant currency revenue less repair payments is presented by recalculating prior period’s revenue less repair payments denominated in currencies other than in US dollars using the foreign exchange rate used for the latest period, without taking into account the impact of hedging gains/losses. Our non-US dollar denominated revenues include, but are not limited to, revenues denominated in pound sterling, South African rand, Australian dollar and Euro.

WNS also presents or discusses (1) adjusted operating margin, which refers to adjusted operating profit (calculated as operating profit / (loss) excluding goodwill impairment, share-based expense and amortization of intangible assets) as a percentage of revenue less repair payments, (2) ANI, which is calculated as profit excluding goodwill impairment, share-based expense and amortization of intangible assets and including the tax effect thereon, (3) Adjusted net income margin, which refers to ANI as a percentage of revenue less repair payments, (4) net cash, which refers to cash and cash equivalents plus investments less long-term debt (including the current portion) and other non-GAAP financial measures included in this release as supplemental measures of its performance. WNS presents these non-GAAP financial measures because it believes they assist investors in comparing its performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that are non-recurring in nature and those it believes are not indicative of its core operating performance. In addition, it uses these non-GAAP financial measures (i) as a factor in evaluating management’s performance when determining incentive compensation and (ii) to evaluate the effectiveness of its business strategies. These non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for WNS’s financial results prepared in accordance with IFRS.

The company is not able to provide our forward-looking GAAP revenue, profit and earnings per ADS without unreasonable efforts for a number of reasons, including our inability to predict with a reasonable degree of certainty the payments to repair centers, our future share-based compensation expense under IFRS 2 (Share Based payments), amortization of intangibles associated with future acquisitions, goodwill impairment and currency fluctuations. As a result, any attempt to provide a reconciliation of the forward-looking GAAP financial measures (revenue, profit, earnings per ADS) to our forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures (revenue less repair payments*, ANI* and Adjusted diluted earnings* per ADS, respectively) would imply a degree of likelihood that we do not believe is reasonable.

Reconciliation of revenue (GAAP) to revenue less repair payments (non-GAAP) and constant currency revenue less repair payments (non-GAAP)
	Three months ended									Three months ended Dec 31, 2021 compared to
	Dec 31, 2021			Dec 31, 2020			Sep 30, 2021			Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
	(Amounts in millions)									(% growth)
Revenue (GAAP)	$	284.1		$	238.4		$	273.6		19.2	%	3.8	%
Less: Payments to repair centers		23.0			13.8			19.2		65.9	%	19.5	%
Revenue less repair payments (non-GAAP)	$	261.2		$	224.5		$	254.4		16.3	%	2.6	%
Exchange rate impact		(1.1	)		(0.6	)		(2.8	)
Constant currency revenue less repair payments (non-GAAP)	$	260.1		$	223.9		$	251.6		16.1	%	3.4	%

Reconciliation of cost of revenue (GAAP to non-GAAP)
	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021		Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
	(Amounts in millions)
Cost of revenue (GAAP)	$	187.5	$	150.3	$	180.8
Less: Payments to repair centers		23.0		13.8		19.2
Less: Share-based compensation expense		1.2		1.5		1.5
Adjusted cost of revenue (excluding payment to repair centers and share-based compensation expense) (non-GAAP)	$	163.4	$	135.0	$	160.2

Reconciliation of gross profit (GAAP to non-GAAP)
	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021		Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
	(Amounts in millions)
Gross profit (GAAP)	$	96.6	$	88.0	$	92.8
Add: Share-based compensation expense		1.2		1.5		1.5
Adjusted gross profit (excluding share-based compensation expense) (non-GAAP)	$	97.8	$	89.5	$	94.3

	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021		Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
Gross profit as a percentage of revenue (GAAP)	34.0	%	36.9	%	33.9	%
Adjusted gross profit (excluding share-based compensation expense) as a percentage of revenue less repair payments (non-GAAP)	37.4	%	39.9	%	37.0	%

Reconciliation of selling and marketing expenses (GAAP to non-GAAP)
	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021		Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
	(Amounts in millions)
Selling and marketing expenses (GAAP)	$	14.2	$	12.2	$	14.0
Less: Share-based compensation expense		1.2		0.8		1.3
Adjusted selling and marketing expenses (excluding share-based compensation expense) (non-GAAP)	$	13.0	$	11.4	$	12.7

	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021		Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
Selling and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue (GAAP)	5.0	%	5.1	%	5.1	%
Adjusted selling and marketing expenses (excluding share-based compensation expense) as a percentage of revenue less repair payments (non-GAAP)	5.0	%	5.1	%	5.0	%

Reconciliation of general and administrative expenses (GAAP to non-GAAP)
	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021		Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
	(Amounts in millions)
General and administrative expenses (GAAP)	$	37.1	$	31.3	$	36.2
Less: Share-based compensation expense		7.4		7.1		8.7
Adjusted general and administrative expenses (excluding share-based compensation expense) (non-GAAP)	$	29.7	$	24.2	$	27.5

	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021		Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
General and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue (GAAP)	13.1	%	13.1	%	13.2	%
Adjusted general and administrative expenses (excluding share-based compensation expense) as a percentage of revenue less repair payments (non-GAAP)	11.4	%	10.8	%	10.8	%

Reconciliation of operating profit (GAAP to non-GAAP)
	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021		Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
	(Amounts in millions)
Operating profit (GAAP)	$	43.2	$	41.2	$	41.3
Add: Share-based compensation expense		9.8		9.4		11.4
Add: Amortization of intangible assets		2.9		3.3		2.8
Adjusted operating profit (excluding share-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets) (non-GAAP)	$	55.9	$	53.9	$	55.5

	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021		Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
Operating profit as a percentage of revenue (GAAP)	15.2	%	17.3	%	15.1	%
Adjusted operating profit (excluding share-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets) as a percentage of revenue less repair payments (non-GAAP)	21.4	%	24.0	%	21.8	%

Reconciliation of profit (GAAP) to ANI (non-GAAP)
	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021			Dec 31, 2020			Sep 30, 2021
	(Amounts in millions)
Profit after tax (GAAP)	$	34.3		$	31.0		$	32.1
Add: Share-based compensation expense		9.8			9.4			11.4
Add: Amortization of intangible assets		2.9			3.3			2.8
Less: Tax impact on share-based compensation expense^(1)		(2.0	)		(1.9	)		(2.5	)
Less: Tax impact on amortization of intangible assets^(1)		(0.7	)		(0.9	)		(0.8	)
Adjusted Net Income (excluding share-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets, including tax effect thereon) (non-GAAP)	$	44.4		$	41.0		$	43.1

^(1) The company applies GAAP methodologies in computing the tax impact on its non-GAAP ANI adjustments (including amortization of intangible assets and share-based compensation expense). The company’s non-GAAP tax expense is generally higher than its GAAP tax expense if the income subject to taxes is higher considering the effect of the items excluded from GAAP profit to arrive at non-GAAP profit.

	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021		Dec 31, 2020		Sep 30, 2021
Profit after tax as a percentage of revenue (GAAP)	12.1	%	13.0	%	11.7	%
Adjusted net income (excluding share-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets, including tax effect thereon) as a percentage of revenue less repair payments (non-GAAP)	17.0	%	18.3	%	17.0	%

Reconciliation of basic earnings per ADS (GAAP to non-GAAP)
	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021			Dec 31, 2020			Sep 30, 2021
Basic earnings per ADS (GAAP)	$	0.70		$	0.62		$	0.66
Add: Adjustment of share-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets		0.26			0.25			0.29
Less: Tax impact on share-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets		(0.05	)		(0.05	)		(0.06	)
Adjusted basic earnings per ADS (excluding share-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets, including tax effect thereon) (non-GAAP)	$	0.91		$	0.82		$	0.89

Reconciliation of diluted earnings per ADS (GAAP to non-GAAP)
	Three months ended
	Dec 31, 2021			Dec 31, 2020			Sep 30, 2021
Diluted earnings per ADS (GAAP)	$	0.68		$	0.60		$	0.64
Add: Adjustments for share-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets		0.25			0.24			0.28
Less: Tax impact on share-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets		(0.05	)		(0.05	)		(0.06	)
Adjusted diluted earnings per ADS (excluding share-based compensation expense and amortization of intangible assets, including tax effect thereon) (non-GAAP)	$	0.88		$	0.79		$	0.86