WNS quarterly profit beats estimates

By S. John Tilak

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Back-office firm WNS Holdings Ltd reported a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street estimates as it benefited from new bookings and an improvement in the business process outsourcing market.

The company said it was well positioned to beat the top end of its outlook range for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010.

For fiscal 2010, it sees adjusted net income of $52 million on revenue less repair payments of $390 million.

WNS -- whose rivals include Genpact, Firstsource Solutions and ExlService -- was seeing particularly strong demand at its finance and accounting business, Chief Executive Neeraj Bhargava said.

"Customers are getting cautiously optimistic," Bhargava said in an interview with Reuters.

The company added five new clients in the quarter. Its top customers in fiscal 2009 included Aviva, Biomet Inc, British Airways and Centrica.

WNS sees the strength spilling over into the second half of fiscal 2010. The company expects margins in the second half to remain as strong as current levels if not better, Bhargava said.

Second-quarter net income attributable to WNS shareholders rose to $1.4 million, or 3 cents per American Depositary Share, from $0.2 million, or 1 cent per ADS, a year earlier. Excluding items, earnings were 31 cents per ADS.