Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the LTIMindtree Q2 FY twenty-five earnings conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone telephone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now hand the conference over to Mr. Vikas Jadhav, Head of Investor Relations, LTIMindtree. Thank you, and over to you, sir. Thanks, ma'am. Good day, everyone, and welcome to LTIMindtree's Quarter Two FY twenty-five earnings call. Today on the call we have with us Mr. Debashis Chatterjee, who is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. Mr. Sudhir Chaturvedi, President, Global Markets. Mr. Nachiket Deshpande, who is our Chief Operating Officer. And Mr. Vipul Chandra, who is our Chief Financial Officer. So we'll begin with a brief overview of the company's Quarter Two FY twenty-five performance, after which we'll, you know, we'll open the floor for Q&A. Just want to kind of, you know, remind you that during the call, we could make certain forward-looking statements. These statements consider the environment as we see as of today and carry risk and uncertainty that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the expressed, from those expressed today in today's call. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement made on this call. You can find this forward-looking statement in our earnings release also. With that, now I turn over the call to DC for opening remarks. Thank you, Vikas. Good evening, and good morning to everyone on the call. Thank you for joining us today. I'm happy to report that Q2 was a good quarter, marked by broad-based sequential growth we experienced across all our verticals and geos, and several multiyear deal closures in manufacturing, energy and utilities, and BFS verticals. We consolidated our standing in an existing account through vendor consolidation and long-term revenue commitment, securing a $200 million-plus TCV over a five-year period. Our large deal pipeline remains robust, with several deals nearing final decisions. These positive trends are reflected in the strong hiring of over 2,500 employees during this quarter. We also opened 22 new logos during the quarter. With that preamble, let me summarize the numbers. I'm pleased to report a sequential growth of 2.8% in US dollar terms against the backdrop of a largely data flow IT spend environment. Q2 revenues stood at $1.13 billion and was up by 4.4% in constant currency and 4.7% in dollar terms on a year-on-year basis. On the margin front, the EBIT margin for the quarter stood at 15.5%, an improvement of 50 basis points sequentially, and the net profit margin was at 13.3%. Q2 order inflows stood at TCV of $1.3 billion. In a continued challenging macro environment, the need for a substantial shift and pivot towards AI is quite clear to us. To lead in this new AI-influenced business environment, we did a complete LTIMindtree-level pivot to an AI-first approach, which continues to drive our success amid these disruptive times. I will today share with you our AI strategy, which is anchored in three core... AI in everything, ensuring we reimagine everything. Everything for AI, creating a supportive ecosystem for all AI innovation to scale within the enterprise, and lastly, AI for everyone, democratizing AI for the benefit of all stakeholders. Let me elaborate further on these three components of our AI strategy. First, we will adopt AI ourselves and transform the way we work by infusing AI in everything we do. For example, we are enhancing experiences with the help of GenAI-augmented creative and content. We are also running and optimizing campaign operations with AI-powered tools. Our knowledge fabric-driven agent and Copilots-based IT operation is helping unlock the next level of efficiency and productivity. We are leveraging AI for legacy modernization. For security operations, we are focusing on AI-driven threat detection and response. We are using Vision AI for Industry 4.0 use cases, like defect detection in metals. We are reimagining platform operations with an AI-first approach in areas such as underwriting, claims processing, and customer service operations. We also recognize the challenges our customers are facing in scaling AI for the enterprise, which could be in the form of trust in data, cost of scaling, AI safety, adoption, or human impact. To address these challenges, we collaborate with our customers to engineer platforms that enable AI at scale. This commitment forms our second principle, everything for AI, which encompasses preparing data foundations and infrastructure for AI, building trust and observability.... and implementing the right controls for generative AI applications. Just to illustrate the scale we have achieved in a short span, the LTIMindtree AI Platform we launched earlier has been adopted in 40-plus customer environments to achieve the same. The third principle of our AI strategy is AI for everyone, and this focuses on empowering people and humanizing AI. We aim to achieve this by firstly developing Copilots and Navigator apps tailored for every persona. Next, creating AI solutions that are human by incorporating the right guardrails, bias management, and trust. And lastly, addressing use cases that leverage AI for the betterment of humanity and contribute to solving global challenges. We are already seeing positive outcomes from this strategy, both in terms of value delivered to our customers and the impact on our generative AI-based deals and pipeline. For example, for a financial services major, we have doubled the first-time resolution percentage for the contact center. Our AI-in-everything strategy is driving success across our service line offerings and industry verticals, enabling us to win deals by leveraging generative AI capabilities. Let me share with you some examples of AI-powered wins for the quarter. U.S. global manufacturing leader chose LTIMindtree as a preferred partner for its global application management and transformation services. We used our AI-first next-gen operations framework to enhance efficiency, foster innovation, and speed up transformation. This opportunity arose from vendor consolidation, where we became the sole partner for the customer from four existing vendors. This was the largest multi-year deal for LTIMindtree. A major global financial institution selected LTIMindtree to collaborate on modernizing their wealth data platform. We utilized advanced automation technologies along with GenAI to improve customer experience and broaden the customer's global market reach. This was achieved by developing a new data taxonomy, adopting cloud technology for faster service delivery to clients and partners, modernizing mainframes, and reducing operational costs. We have been selected by a leading U.S.-based energy utility company as its long-term strategic partner for end-to-end IT operations in the AI-first model. We have won an infrastructure transformation and managed services deal from an engineering major on the back of our AI-powered IT operations solution. We are clear about the role of the ecosystem in this pivot. We are consistently launching AI solutions and offerings through our partner ecosystem, which not only amplifies our AI strategy, but also acts as a powerful channel for growth. For instance, LTIMindtree and IBM have launched the IBM AI Innovation Center at Bengaluru's Hebbal campus. This center will develop top-tier solutions to speed up clients' AI adoption. It will highlight advanced technologies and innovative AI, machine learning, and data science solutions, featuring IBM watsonx. We are empowering our workforce by providing them with generative AI tools and training through our educate platform, Garuda. This platform offers tailored training pathways based on employees' skill levels and technology backgrounds, featuring curated programs for both our internal service clients and partners. Currently, 63% of our workforce is trained and equipped with GenAI capabilities. To summarize our AI pivot and what it means for our business, we remain committed to investing in developing our AI intellectual property, as well as vertical and horizontal solutions. These investments are poised to deliver substantial results by fostering innovation, enhancing operational efficiency, and driving a competitive advantage. Let me now spend some time on our industry verticals. Q2 growth was led by the BFSI vertical, which registered a sequential growth of 4%. Banks' focus on cost-cutting through restructuring, along with our strong relationship and execution track record, have benefited us in gaining market share. We have a robust large deal pipeline in this vertical, with a few deals in the final stages. We are seeing more BFSI clients working towards getting data ready for AI. After a significant sequential growth of 7.9% in Q1 in the technology, media, and communications vertical, Q2 witnessed a further 1.9% sequential growth, with a year-on-year growth of 12%. While cost optimization continues to remain the dominant theme for both hardware and software vendors, there has been a focus on infusing AI and GenAI in products to enhance customer experience. This is expected to scale up further as the market matures. The manufacturing and resources vertical witnessed a steady growth of 0.7% on a sequential basis and 5.8% on year-on-year basis. We see continued traction in ERP, while also gaining market share in vendor consolidation, leveraging our AI in everything theme. As mentioned earlier, we closed a deal of over $200 million in TCV in this vertical. Our consumer business experienced sequential growth of 2.6%, aligning with the overall company performance. Growth in Q2 was driven primarily by the TTH and retail sectors. We are employing AI to enhance customer engagement and as an entry strategy for some of our smaller verticals. Following a 7.9 drop in the Q1 revenue, the healthcare life sciences and public sector vertical experienced a 5.9% sequential growth. In terms of geographies, Americas, which contributes 75% of our revenue, has grown by 7% on a year-on-year basis. Europe contributed 14.4%, and the rest of the world contributed 10.6% of our revenue. Let me now hand it over to Vipul. Okay, sorry. My apologies. Let me talk about the people front. On the people front, our headcount rose to over 84,000 at the end of the quarter, as we added 2,500 plus employees during the quarter. For the quarter, our LTM attrition remains stable at 14.5%, compared to the 14.4% last quarter. We onboarded 1,100+ freshers this quarter. This quarter, we introduced an initiative called LTIM Rhythm, our vision for the future of the workplace. LTIM Rhythm encapsulates our commitment to fostering a collaborative, flexible, and dynamic workplace environment that not only caters to the evolving needs of our clients, but also ensures the holistic development of our associates. This also helps us in implementing our strategy of AI for everyone, which we articulated earlier. I will now turn over the call to Vipul for the financial highlights. Thank you, DC, and good evening, everyone in the call. Let me take you through the financial highlights for the second quarter of FY 2025, starting with the revenue numbers. Our Q2 revenue stood at $1.16 billion, a growth of 2.8% sequentially and 4.7% on a year-on-year basis in dollar terms. The corresponding constant currency growth was 3.3% quarter-on-quarter and 4.4% year-on-year. Our EBIT margin expanded by 50 basis points to 15.5%, as compared with 15% in the previous quarter, mainly on account of absence of visa costs. Net foreign exchange for the quarter increased to $9 million, compared to $1.6 million in the previous quarter. Leveraging our strong cash position alongside efficient investment management, we achieved an investment income of INR 212 crores this quarter. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 25.8%, as compared to 25.6% in Q1. EBIT margin for the quarter was 13.3%, as compared to 12.4% previous quarter. Reported PAT climbed to INR 1,252 crores this quarter, compared to INR 1,135 crores in last quarter. Basic EPS was INR 42.3 for the quarter, as compared to INR 38.3 in Q1 FY 2025. Billed DSO increased to 60 days versus 55 days in Q1 FY 2025, which is still a reduction of eight days versus Q2 of the prior year. The unbilled DSO, however, reduced by three days. The total DSO was at 81 days compared to 78 days in the previous quarter. We continue to focus on our billing and collection efficiency to move towards our aspired target DSO of approximately 75 days. The operating cash flow to PAT was 74.3% as against 109.9% in Q1. Free cash flow to PAT came in at 54.5% compared to 88.6% in Q1. The cash and investment balances stood at $1.43 billion or rupees INR 11,974 crores, compared to the INR 11,334 crores in Q1 FY twenty-five. Return on equity for the quarter was at 23.8%. As of September 30, 2024, our cash flow hedges stood at $390.7 million. Hedges on the balance sheet were $326 million. Our utilization, excluding sales, in the quarter was at 87.7%, compared to 88.3% last quarter, which is in line with our continued investments for our growth momentum. The board of directors have recommended an interim dividend of INR 20 per equity share. We're pleased to announce that LTIMindtree has attained a rank of 13 across sectors and rank 5 in IT and communications sector in Businessworld India's Most Sustainable Companies Top Fifty Listing for 2024. We're also looking to use our ESG capabilities to help our clients achieve their ESG goals. In line with this, LTIMindtree has launched a new comprehensive digital transformation and ESG platform, Smart Spaces 2.0, which can help with end-to-end ESG reporting across key factors while delivering predictive maintenance and repair inputs. These recognitions and actions serve as a testament to our proactive approach in integrating sustainable practices. I now hand it back to DC for the business outlook. ... Thank you, Vipul. Despite the challenging environment, our growth remains steady and in line with what we had indicated in the last quarter. We are cautiously optimistic about this momentum carrying forward into Q3. However, historically, Q3 experiences seasonal headwinds, as well as due to furloughs and slower billing days, which could moderate this momentum to some extent. Additionally, wage hikes for all employees in Q3 are expected to put pressure on our margins. Nevertheless, our strategic shift towards AI has resulted in a robust build-up in our deal pipeline. With strong deal wins, sustained deal traction in our key verticals, and significant hiring in Q2, including freshers, we are well-positioned as we move into the latter half of the fiscal year. With that, let me now open the floor for questions. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while we poll for questions. The first question comes from the line of Sulabh Govila from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Thanks for taking my question. The first question is around the deal pipeline. So just wanted some color around that. How has that grown, and what's the nature of the deals that you have? Are you witnessing more short cycle deals than you did in the last quarter, and is that reflecting into better ACV trends? Sudhir, do you want to take that? Sure, DC. So I think, you know, from a large deal momentum perspective, you know, the pipeline continues to be strong. It has grown, you know, it's over $5 billion right now from a large deal perspective. In terms of the demand trends that we are seeing, we are seeing significant traction in the BFSI vertical, as you can see in our growth numbers as well. And that vertical is also characterized by having a demand which is, you know, when we, I think short cycle is perhaps the wrong term. What we are seeing is that we are actually, you know, doing both a combination of deals as well as being opening new logos, as well as, you know, the new MSS also that we mentioned last time in our call, where we spoke about how we're being chosen as a preferred supplier. So the combination of factors that is now resulting in a pipeline that has a combination of large deals as well as, you know, demand from a... as well as being on the right side of vendor consolidation, as well as demand from the, you know, slight increase in discretionary spend. Understood. Secondly, I wanted to check what's leading to softness in the top six to 10 client bucket? The revenue in this bucket has gone down from $85 million a quarter to now $75-$76 million in the last two, three quarters. So is there any client-specific issue here that you're facing? I think, you know, it's fair to look at the, you know, we always look at the top 40 clients. And if I look at... And we also don't tend to look at on a quarter-to-quarter basis. We rather look at an overall yearly basis. And I think from that perspective, we are doing fairly well. I mean, if I look at my top five, top 10, top 20 and top 40 clients segment, you know, there is definitely the concentration risk is slightly reduced. But at the same time, if I look at the top 40 clients, they have still grown this quarter sequentially. I mean, in fact, all the buckets, top five, top 10, top 20, top 40, there is a sequential growth, which is good for us. So overall, I think we are, the account mining is working, which is what our focus has been, and we are happy about it. Understood. And the last question is on the margins for Vipul. What should be the impact of wage hike that we should be baking in, in 3Q? And what would be some of the offsetting factors that can help you negate the impact? So, in terms of our wage hike impact, you could take it, maybe approximately, 200 basis points, which will be partly offset by our continuing operational efficiency, which we had started driving any which way, you know, just two quarters back, and which are continuing. So some of those operational efficiency drivers will continue to kind of offset, and the growth that we are also, you know, looking for. Uh-huh. So some of these things will partially offset the impact, but may not be the full impact. Thanks for taking my question. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Nithin Padmanabhan with Investec. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hi, good evening. So you spoken of furloughs. So are furloughs similar to what you have seen in the prior year? Is it better? Is it worse? That's the first one. The second is, what are the areas where you continue to see weakness in the market from a vertical perspective, where you want to see some improvement? And finally, with regards to the large deal which you announced, that is a vendor consolidation with an existing client, if I'm right, and if that is the case, then in which vertical is this? And by when do you expect to start seeing ramp-up sales? Thank you. Yeah. So, so Nitin, let me just try to answer, one by one. Your question on, furloughs, I think, we all know, I mean, we realized that last year, the furloughs were a little more than what we had anticipated. So our, expectation this year is that the furloughs will be back to the regular levels that we used to have, so it is not going to be as high as it was the last year. So that's on the furloughs. If you ask me about, specific, areas, if you look at the growth that we have, in fact, all the five segments that we report our revenues on, all the segments have, grown. But I would have liked my travel and transportation to do a little better, because there are certain situations where some of our clients are dependent on specific issues, which we don't have much control. And that is one area where we are hoping that some improvement happens, you know, as we go along. And from your large deal perspective, the deal that we talked about, and I think we called out in our opening remarks as well, it is part of our manufacturing vertical, and it is a combination of both, you know, a renewal as well as some significant additional scope, almost you can say half or more. And that's how we kind of scoped it to, you know, the, you know, that's how it is a $200 million plus deal. And this, the transition has already started for this deal, so the deal will start ramping up in Q3. But in which geography would that be? It's the U.S. In the U.S. Yeah. Thank you so much, and all the very best. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vibhor Singhal with Nuvama Equities. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi. Thanks for taking my question, and, congrats, DC, on a solid quarter. Just two questions from my side. Firstly, on the BFSI vertical, very sharp recovery from what we saw especially in the last two quarters of the last financial year. You also talked about some of the deals in BFSI, which are there in the pipeline, and which we should be able to close very soon. So just to look at the outlook in the sector, do you expect the growth momentum in this vertical to continue, especially after the interest rate cuts also coming in? What are the specific areas in the BFSI where you are looking at in terms of higher expense, let's say, capital markets or insurance, or which part of the businesses? Any color on all those aspects we are looking into, and then I'll have a follow-up question? Yeah, thanks, Vibhor, so if I understood the question, let me just give you some color on BFSI. First of all, very pleased with the growth coming back in BFSI. But specifically about the growth, it is primarily led by BFS, but the growth is fairly broad-based across you know all the clients that we have. The growth is we have been you know really winning these deals in two scenarios. One scenario is wherever we are we have been incumbent and there is a vendor consolidation it has worked out favorably for us, and also in a situation where we have not been present, but it's a new logo for us. We have won that kind of deals as well. I must say that bulk of the wins that we have had in this BFSI has been mostly cost take-out and efficiency-oriented deals. Having said that, you know, our strength in governance, regulatory and compliance also helped in terms of driving some of the spends in this area. And I can only say that, you know, the cautiousness that we had in terms of discretionary spend, that has not significantly changed. So we still see, you know, not much of discretionary spends coming back, but as I articulated, in whatever opportunities we are getting, there is a significant momentum that we have generated. Got it. So the decisioning spends, those remain on hold, that we have not seen any change from, let's say, the last quarter? Yeah, I don't think we need to say that there is any... I don't think there is much change in terms of discretionary spend. It is yet to come back. It's yet to come back. Got it. Got it. Got it. Got it. That's really helpful. Secondly, we see on the tech, tech, high-tech vertical, of course, we had two very, two quarters of very solid growth, and this quarter was a bit soft. So any thought on that, given we've spoke a lot about GenAI applications that we are having through the Canvas platform. So, how is the spend in this vertical? Are the users expect the hyperscalers also going to drive the growth in this vertical? And given that, with our relationship with the top client that is also the high-tech vertical client, will that also help us in this vertical? Not just immediately, but let's say over the next three to four quarters. Vibhor, the thing is, you know, the tech clients, both the software as well as the hardware vendors, I think they will always look at the new technologies like AI, GenAI, very aggressively. So, the focus still remains significantly in terms of cost takeouts. And you must have also heard that quite a few of our, you know, tech clients, not necessarily just our clients, they have been also doing some layoffs. But as far as our portfolio is concerned, I don't think there is anything to be concerned about as of now, because we still have a good growth coming from, you know, across the board in terms of high-tech clients. Got it. Got it. Got it. So this now, one last question, if I could just raise it. In the last call that we have mentioned that a large part of our pipeline, we have now pivoted towards, cost takeout deals. So is that, pivot now giving us clues, as you mentioned, lot of the BFSI deals for cost takeout deals, and do we intend to continue on that path? Or do you believe in maybe in the next couple of quarters, we expect the discretionary spends to come back, and then there could be some, mix and match of the deal, pipeline there? Look, I think, Parag, the most important pivot that we have done is for us to be ready to support you know transformation as well as efficiency deals. I think that, that's the biggest pivot that we have done in the last several quarters. And you know, at this point of time, we have closed quite a few cost takeout deals, and you know, that is kind of driving the growth. Now when the discretionary will come back, it's very difficult to say. We'll probably get an idea when the clients are going through their budget session, which is not very far away. But of course, as we get to know, we can always share with you, but it's a little too early to predict in terms of what is coming, given the fact that, you know, it has been on a pause for quite some time. Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. And, you know, I think what is most important for us is that, as I said, we can play on both the sides. We can play on the cost takeout side, we can play on the transformation side equally well. I think that's the biggest keyword that we have got. Got it. Thank you, ADK. Thanks for taking my questions, and I wish you all the best. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one. The next question is from the line of Manik Taneja with Axis Capital. Please go ahead. Thank you for the opportunity. We just wanted to prod you with regards to the near-term outlook that you've suggested. If I understood correctly, you said the momentum that we've seen in first half or the first couple of quarters, there should be some moderation to that in the third quarter. And, the second question was for Vipul. If you could help us with the quantum of fee hikes, that you have implemented, and are they implemented for the full quarter, or, unlike, one of our group companies, is it a partial impact? And the last one related to margins is, if you could talk about your thought process about the medium-term improvement in margins that we were, looking to achieve, in a couple of years. Let me take the first question and then I'll request Vipul to cover the other two. So Manik, you know, as far as, you know, the H2 is concerned, we are cautiously optimistic about the momentum that we have generated. We had told in Q1 that the Q1 momentum will continue to Q2, that has happened. But at the same time, we are cautiously optimistic about this momentum carrying into Q3. Because historically, Q3 has a seasonal headwind as well as furloughs and fewer billing days, which could moderate this momentum to some extent. But at the same time, you know, the deals that we have closed in the last two quarters, they have ramped up and they continue to, you know, deliver growth. So the momentum from that perspective will continue, but the furlough impact is still not known. So, we have to just wait and watch. Vipul? Yeah. So, the other two questions that you asked, I think, I'd mentioned earlier that the impact of wage hike is going to be around 2% on our margin, and it is a full quarter impact. As far as the, you know, the margin improvement, your operational efficiency initiatives that I spoke about largely is going to be driven, you know, the revenue growth and the pyramid correction that we are working on, and as you would have heard in the, you know, in the opening remarks from VC, that we have added 2,500-plus, you know, headcounts in this quarter, of which 1,100-plus are freshers. So we are working towards getting that utilization rate down, which we had talked about in the last quarter. At the same time, we are also focused on correcting the pyramid as we go along, and some of those operating efficiencies will keep on coming. If I could just chip in with one more question. While not only substantial, it means that over the course of recent quarters, we are once again beginning to see an increase in terms of the on-site mix of headcount. Do you think we continue to see this increase further given the nature of demand or you know, the decision to extract some more efficiencies from the higher end? Let me request, Nachiket to take that. Nachiket? So this is actually not a strategic flavor that we look at from an improvement standpoint. It is actually result of our business in specific deals. So we don't expect that to vary a lot, unless there is a marginal increase in the on-site issue. This quarter there is a quarterly fluctuation. I wouldn't read too much into it. Okay. And is there any timelines now for that 17%-18% margin that we wanted to achieve in a couple of years? ... So, again, as I've mentioned in the last quarter as well, to get to that kind of a margin number which we are aspiring for, the journey has gotten elongated mainly because of, you know, the external environment as well, where unless and until the industry starts seeing double-digit kind of growth again, it's going to be, you know, difficult to kind of move on that journey in a fast manner. So right now, I think the focus has to be more on maintaining the margin and wait for the growth to come back. Sure. Thank you and all the best for the future. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rishi Jhunjhunwala with IIFL Institutional Equities. Please go ahead. Yeah. Thank you. Most of my questions have been answered. Just one, you know, basic understanding of the business as it stands now. Now, when LTI and Mindtree were two different companies, LTI used to have a revenue trajectory, wherein second half used to be better than first half in most of the years in a normal spending environment. Is it fair to say that as a combined entity now we are very similar to how some of our larger peers are, wherein first half, typically in a normal environment, would end up being better than second half? I think, you know, let me just take a stab at it. I mean, whatever you do, whatever you say, but it also depends on, you know, how clients' trends are and how the overall macro looks like. So, that's an experience that we had in the last fiscal. But, you know, at this point of time, as we see the momentum that we have had in the first half, and the deals that we have closed, the ramp up that has to happen, that momentum should continue. Barring the uncertainties and the seasonality that we have in Q3, I think we should just leave it there and see how it plays out, rather than trying to get ahead of ourselves. Right. The other question is just in terms of the kind of yield we are generating on our investments and cash. It seems to be north of almost 8%. So just wanted to understand the nature of investments we are doing, and are there any kind of, you know, I mean, basically, what's the nature where we are? Let me request Vipul to take that. Sure, so in terms of the investments that we are doing, I think most of the investments are in mutual funds on the debt side, either money market or you know G-sec and corporate bond portfolio in the mutual fund. I think it has been you know the better investment efficiency that we have been talking about. It has been more proactively shifting the duration in line with the changing interest rate environment in the market, which has helped us generate or catch the you know the interest rate move properly as it has happened in the market. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Abhishek Kumar from JM Financial. Please go ahead. Hi, good evening. Thanks for taking my question. I have, two questions on furloughs, and let me ask them together. First, I just want to understand how to read furloughs. When you say, you know, furloughs this year would be a more normalized furloughs, does that mean that the, pressure on budgets are easing, and therefore because furloughs generally coincide with, budgeting cycles? So does that kind of, suggest that, budgets next year could also be normal? That's question number one. And question number two is, some of your peers have said that furloughs this year would be similar to last year, and that could be because of difference in portfolio plans, et cetera. So when we say it is more normalized, you know, which areas or which, verticals, we are seeing, furloughs normalizing? Are there any pockets where you see that furloughs could still be similar to last year? Thank you. Okay. So, you know, it's a little too early to predict about the budget cycle, et cetera, given the fact that, you know, in the U.S., elections are also, you know, on our way. So as far as, you know, budgets are concerned, budget for this year was already taken, and furloughs are normal. And, you know, what we had last year, again, furloughs are also reflective of the portfolio of clients that we had, and we really did not anticipate. So from that perspective, we are going to be definitely better compared to last year in terms of the furloughs that we... Better from a positive way from our perspective. So that's all I can say, that you know, it is not- last year was a little different, but we'll get back to a normal furlough year as far as this year is concerned. But difficult to talk about budget till we, you know, with all the U.S. elections and all those things overhanging on us. What was there a second question? No, that was related to furloughs. Thank you. This is helpful. Thank you so much. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Abhishek Pathak with Motilal Oswal. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hi, thank you for the opportunity. So, obviously, on discretionary spend, you know, our comments are, I think, slightly cautious as compared to, the peers who have reported so far. Just wondering, you know, like, what's the divergence here? I mean, is it a portfolio mix, or is it a more short-term election-led or furlough-led approach that's leading us to, be slightly cautious? That's one. And the other bit is, you know, of course, the growth this time has been, fairly broad-based. So is it fair to assume that, you know, whatever recovery, that that's happening on the client side, is now finding more legs and, you know, it is becoming more widespread? And, just if that is the case, how comfortable are we on the headcount? You know, what's the comfortable level of utilization that we think we should operate at? And in case growth really comes back in earnest, how would we sort of look at the hiring strategies from here? Thank you. So, Abhishek, let me. You asked quite a few questions. Let me see if I can remember and answer. First is, when you talk about discretionary, let me just take a step back and explain to you how we will normally classify the programs and the projects that we do for our clients. One is the efficiency, longer-term cost takeout. That's number one. Number two is when clients are investing in terms of, you know, building out new applications in, you know, which is like could be revenue-facing applications, front-end applications, et cetera, that is, you know, pure discretionary spend. And I would say there is a third category, which is clients also have to deal with a lot of regulatory stuff, like governance, regulatory, compliance stuff from time to time, which is not exactly a maintenance, but they need to still, you know, spend money to get those things out of their way. Now, I don't know, as far as we are concerned, we try to identify our programs in these three categories, but for some, maybe the, you know, the regulatory and the discretionary could be the same thing. So we don't know how people classify. But as far as we are concerned, we definitely have been seeing a lot of traction in the cost takeout. We have been seeing a lot of traction in terms of governance, regulatory, compliance wherever we work with our BFS clients, for example. You know, but especially on the discretionary, where clients are trying to build new applications, I think it has been kind of on a pause for the last more than five, six quarters. I think we probably have to see how the. Once the, you know, US elections are over, probably there will be some initiative from the clients in terms of looking at discretionary. But as of now, it is fair to say that, you know, except for, you know, AI-related investments which clients are doing, where we are participating with them, I don't think there is any other area where clients are spending on discretionary. So that's the first part of your question. I think what was the second question? Sir, just you know, just a bit around hiring and you know, if the growth recovery is more broad-based. Yeah. What's the comfortable level of utilization, and how do we? Yeah. Okay. -from here? Yeah. I think this quarter is a very good quarter for us because we are able to report a broad-based growth. And all the segments that we report on, every segment has grown, which is a very good news and which is a very positive sign. But we will expect that the growth continue to be broad-based. So from your perspective, from our perspective of utilization, we have always called out that we are operating at an utilization which is currently slightly higher than what we would like. Our you know target utilization range will be something around 85%. That will be ideal. One of the reasons why we were operating for the last several quarters at a slightly higher utilization is also to ensure that we get the benefit, you know, of the two organizations coming together, utilizing the bench from two organizations so that we kind of reduce the bench and make best use of it. So there was a specific design why we could operate at a higher utilization. Obviously, you know, as the growth comes back, we will aim to be at 85% utilization, which will also kind of mean that there will be a headcount addition accordingly. We always try to add the headcount based on the business scenario, so I think you can do the math, and you can see that there will be headcount addition from this point as we go along. Understood. That's very clear. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Rahul Jain with Dolat Capital. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hi. It would be great if you could give some color, both quantitative and qualitatively, on the deal signing during the quarter. We don't really talk in too much of details, but, Sudhir, do you want to give some color? Yeah, I think we- I mean, we reported an order intake of $1.3 billion. I mentioned the overall large deal pipeline also of $5 billion. And, you know, being on the right side of consolidation deals, the deal momentum continues to be good, across. You know, so pipeline is also, strong and healthy across the board. And, you know, so I think in terms of the the verticals that we're winning deals, it's, you know, again, you can see that the combination of, BFS as well as, manufacturing are, you know, leading the, the deal win cycle, but we're also seeing, you know, we have opportunities across all our verticals, in terms of, the, the large deal activity that we see. Thank you. Just one bit on the consumer side of the business, if you could give any color how we plan to revive growth prospect here. Again, the deal win does not feature this space, so anything more input here would help. Yeah. And I think on this- Sorry. Sorry, DC. No, you already mentioned that there is some softness that we are seeing in a couple of our travel clients and our travel tech clients. I think that's, you know, when there is... When I talked about the pipeline, the pipeline is across all verticals, including the consumer business. So we expect, you know, as we enter the new calendar year, I think things will start to improve there. Sure, sure. That's it. Thank you. ... Thank you. The next question is from the line of Aayush with B&K Securities. Please go ahead. Yeah. Hi. So a couple of questions. So first is, again, on the consumer business. So just wanted to, you know, understand more that when we say that some of the clients are having some issues in the TTH vertical. So when are we expecting those client issues to get resolved, or are there any kind of a green shoots to be available that we are seeing next quarter or maybe, like, for the next-to-next quarter? The second question is for Rajeev on the margin front. So if I see that our SG&A costs, you know, has been trending upwards, not that much, but yeah, definitely more than what the basic 80, 12.5 becomes 10 point and then till 20 as a percentage of revenue. So what sort of comfort level are we having that can subsidize the SG&A expense? And are we, like, investing towards hiring the sales people for, you know, to chase the larger deals or some kind of investment are we doing there? So on the first question that you asked, since you are asking for something very specific, let me tell you that the travel and travel tech clients that are part of our portfolio, they're also dependent on specific airline manufacturers which is Boeing, in terms of delivery. I think that is something which is a well-known you know fact, that there have been severe issues, and I think they have been forced to scale back in terms of their spend, and which is impacting us. And I always say that what happens to us is a reflection of not only the industry, but the section of clients we have as a part of our portfolio and the going through. Hopefully there should be some turnaround, but I don't think it's easy to say at what point of time things will change, and you know, as far as the other thing within my consumer portfolio is, there is the real estate. We have a few real estate clients who are also part of the consumer portfolio, and ever since the interest rates have been very high, there has been impact, but as the interest rates and the mortgage rates come down, I think hopefully there should be some, you know, there will be more opportunities in terms of spend with those clients. I think that will be my way of looking at the consumer business. I'll request Vipul to answer the other question. I think the other question was on the SG&A costs going higher in this quarter and whether we are comfortable with this increase and it will come back. So answer to that is that we have had some seasonally you know event case events which have come about in this quarter either in Q1 or Q2. And that's the reason for this increase in Q2 versus Q1. Minus the tail events, if you look at the SG&A, then you know it could have been probably a bit lower. So we are our operating efficiency steps increased stepped on controlling the SG&A costs as well. Great, thanks. So just a follow-up for Sudhir. If you can just a bit explain, because we are having, you know, a bit more exposure to the SAP. So what sort of, you know, traction are we eyeing for the SAP? Because we have hired a couple of, you know, hiring on the SAP front, and what kind of demand are we seeing on that front? Sorry, I didn't quite catch that question. Could you just repeat it again? So I just want to understand more about, you know, from the SAP angle, like, how are we eyeing, you know, the demand traction from the SAP and the hiring front for specifically for the SAP capabilities? Mm-hmm. Are you referring to SAP? Yes, yes, yeah. Okay. Oh, okay. So, yeah, from an SAP perspective, you know, we know that there's been a, you know, increase in demand because of the S/4HANA, you know, implementations that our clients are doing. You know, again, we are working on several implementations right now. We are a top-tier partner at SAP. So that, you know, for us, the ERP segment, which is our core, what we call core service line offering, is continuing to, you know, grow well, and there's good traction in that market. Again, it's some of that is reflected in the growth and the deal making that we are seeing in the manufacturing vertical specifically. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Girish Pai with BOB Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. I have three questions. Did I hear it right, that the wage impact will be about three hundred basis points? That's question number one. Second, would the average resource cost for a GenAI skills infused IT services organization be higher? And the third is, with regard to mainframe modernization, especially the BFSI space, there's been a lot of talk of GenAI changing the picture there. Are you seeing anything changing on the ground on this particular aspect? So, let me request Vipul to take the first question, and then- So the first question, I think, what I had said was 200 hundred basis points, not three hundred. So, I think that's a simple answer. And, when it comes to the GenAI skill set, see, it will be across the spectrum. So, if you talk about key talent, which can build algorithms, platforms and models, that talent, yes, would be a expensive talent because it's a very niche and very in-demand capability. But if you look at a large part of our talent pool, that will need knowledge of using GenAI in improving their significant productivity. And that's where I think we are focusing on building that talent ground up, cross-skilling and upskilling all of our talent to be able to leverage GenAI capabilities. Of course, there are some additional skill sets that we will require as well in around data tagging, around content moderations, and lot of these skills that are needed in order to fine-tune and train the models. That's a very different skill set than it, what we traditionally had, and they also come at a very different price point and a different background as well. So we need to look at it. It's not a one thing that will define, but there will be a continuum of those skill sets with respect to GenAI. And the other part on mainframe modernization, the Bikky already referred to one billion in prepared remarks, which included in the FSI segment, which had a significant mainframe modernization component in it. We are seeing a good traction around mainframe modernization, especially driven by GenAI teams, which can significantly cut the lead times and the costs required to modernize some of these applications. Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we take the last question from the line of Manik Taneja from Axis Capital. Please go ahead. Yes. Thank you for the follow-up, Nithin. I actually wanted to take your thoughts around the GCC activity that we are seeing, including with some of our larger hospitality clients recently. So it would be great to get your perspective as to how you think this plays out for our business over the medium term. Well, Manik, GCCs are not something that is happening today. It has been there for several years. And, you know, we as a company have been very clear that we have to work with the GCCs and coexist with the GCCs. Because if you look at the strategies of the GCCs, they will never, they also have a very clear view in terms of identifying areas where they work with partners. So we are working with many of our clients who also have GCCs, working with them, with their U.S. teams as well as with the GCCs. So that will continue. So I don't think there is anything specific that we need to worry about. We just need to continue what we have been doing. Okay, thank you, and all the best for the future. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our question-and-answer session. On behalf of LTIMindtree, that concludes today's-