HEXT

** Hexaware Technologies HEXW.NS rises 5% to 483.75 rupees; set for third straight session of gains

** IT services provider posts higher Q1 profit; reiterates revenue growth of at least 7.6% for FY26 ending December 2026

** Kotak Institutional Equities raises full-year revenue estimates; says co delivered reasonable Q1 after sharp reset in expectations

** Says stock corrected sharply, offers reasonable risk-reward

** Emkay says margins expected to improve progressively through the year, especially in H2

** Stock trades at forward 12-month PE of 18.48 vs industry median of 19.24

** HEXW rated "buy" on avg; median PT is 530 rupees, per data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, stock down 38.1% vs Nifty IT's .NIFTYIT 22.5% fall

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru)

((Abhinav.Parmar@thomsonreuters.com;))

April 27 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• HEXAWARE TECHNOLOGIES LTD- DECLARED FIRST INTERIM DIVIDEND OF 8.50 RUPEES PER SHARE

Source text: ID:nnAZN4SSXYU

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

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March 17 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• LAUNCHES AGENTVERSE, ENTERPRISE AI AGENT PLATFORM WITH 600+ AGENTS

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

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Feb 24 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• EXPANDS COLLABORATION WITH AWS FOR AI-ENABLED SDLC

Source text: ID:nNSE4Dq9Db

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

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** Jefferies downgrades 6 Indian IT consulting companies, citing pain due to structural changes in business due to AI tools' disruption may not be over

** Downgrades India's largest IT exporter TCS TCS.NS to "underperform" from "hold"; cuts Infosys INFY.NS, HCLTech HCLT.NS to "hold" from "buy"

** Says, "AI may structurally change IT business mix towards consulting/implemenation while shrinking managed services. This would not only increase cyclicality but also require a change in talent/operating model - thus adding risks"

** Adds IT stocks still offer higher downside risk than upside even as Nifty IT index .NIFTYIT down 16% YTD

** Downgrades LTIMindtree LTIM.NS, Mphasis MBFL.NS, Hexaware Technologies HEXW.NS

** Notes, "While 3Q results led to earnings upgrades for nearly all IT firms, recent developments in AI have raised concerns on the medium- to long-term growth outlook"

** Cuts earnings estimates by 1%-4%; expects 6% earnings CAGR over FY26-FY28; says Coforge COFO.NS, Sagility SAGL.NS, Inventurus Knowledge INVU.NS its top picks

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M)

((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Feb 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A record run of listings is doing little to shore up investment banking fortunes in India. Citi and JPMorgan passed up working on a $1.4 billion float last month by SBI Funds Management, India's largest asset manager, after the issuer set fees at 0.01% of the issue size, Bloomberg reported citing sources. Such state-backed issuers are usually stingy but the hottest private issuers in 2026 are likely to offer slim pickings too.

Fees are growing but remain well short of desirable levels. Net revenue from India's $23 billion of initial public offerings amounted to 1.7% of proceeds in 2025, up from 1.4% a year earlier, Dealogic data show. Underwriters in the U.S. typically command between 4% and 7%.

And while India is now delivering a consistent pipeline of sizeable deals, extracting the measly fees on offer is painful. ICICI Prudential Asset Management's IICL.NS $1.4 billion offering in December was shepherded by 18 banks.

Fees also are increasingly split into equal fixed and variable components tied to the quality of investors a bank brings to a transaction. Roughly one-fifth of the total payout is reserved as a discretionary bonus issuers can choose to hold back. In practice, robust demand for Indian stock means these incentives and bonuses are mostly paid but they suck up time to negotiate.

Firms working on prospective blockbuster deals - such as Reliance Industries' RELI.NS planned offering of Jio Platforms, handled by Morgan Stanley and Kotak Mahindra Bank, per a Reuters report, and National Stock Exchange - won't be spoilt for riches either.

Choosing deals well can be rewarding. Foreigners remain among the few willing to pay for advice. IT exporter Hexaware Technologies HEXW.NS, acquired by global private equity firm Carlyle CG.O in 2021, paid 2.5% to Kotak and Citi for its $1 billion listing, for example. Mandates on the Indian listings of multinationals' local subsidiaries, such as Hyundai Motor India HYUN.NS and LG Electronics India LGEL.NS, have been lucrative too.

Those fees, though, are unlikely to push much higher if the rest of the market is stingy.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Citi and JPMorgan pulled out of a planned $1.4 billion initial public offering by SBI Funds Management over low fees, Bloomberg reported on January 7, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. SBI Funds later replaced Citi with Jefferies, the report added. Sellers State Bank of India and France’s Amundi offered fees of about 0.01% of the issue size after some domestic advisers quoted only a token fee for the mandate, the report said.

(Additional reporting by Aditya Srivastav; Editing by Una Galani; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/shritama.bose@thomsonreuters.com))

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• HEXAWARE TECHNOLOGIES DEC-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 2.92 BILLION RUPEES

• HEXAWARE TECHNOLOGIES DEC-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 34.78 BILLION RUPEES

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Refiles to fix typo in advisory.

By Una Galani

HONG KONG, Feb 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investment banking is a daunting business in Asia Pacific. The regional bosses of some Wall Street giants liken their job to corralling a loose confederation of mercenaries, or battling a three-headed monster. Such are the challenges of running a sprawling geography full of first-time fee payers, with mixed levels of financial sophistication among clients. As activity rebounds, though, the region seems to be at a positive inflection point, with many of its major markets firing up at once.

Globally, the art of dealmaking is back. The world's top executives are eyeing big acquisitions as borrowing costs fall and the shock of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war recedes. In Asia Pacific, total investment banking revenue across deal advice, equity and debt underwriting hit almost $17 billion in 2025, according to Dealogic. That was below 2021's $22 billion level but better than in the intervening years. Volumes so far in 2026 look set to outpace the peak four years ago.

The investment banking business in Asia has changed since the slump. While China and Australia once dominated the action for Western firms, tensions between Washington and Beijing killed off the most lucrative businesses: Chinese outbound acquisitions and U.S. listings by firms from the People's Republic. That was a space Goldman Sachs GS.N and Morgan Stanley MS.N dominated, thanks to their powerful technology-industry franchises among other things.

Today, the fees up for grabs are more broad-based. Chinese firms have a pent-up demand for capital, especially in the booming innovation economy spanning artificial intelligence, biotechnology and robotics. Down Under, miners are riding another mergers and acquisition boom: JPMorgan JPM.N is among the advisers to Rio Tinto RIO.L on its hoped-for Glencore GLEN.L deal, which would create by far the world's largest mining company worth more than $200 billion.

There's also a steady stream of sizable deals coming from historically quieter countries. Take India, where the debut of Jio in Mumbai will likely take the crown for the region's largest 2026 initial public offering. Bankers are hoping to win Mukesh Ambani's telecom giant a valuation as high as $170 billion. In Japan, meanwhile, corporate governance reforms have stirred up a domestic M&A boom, making the country a top destination for buyout barons, led by Bain Capital and KKR KKR.N.

Helped by these two markets, Citigroup C.N closed 2025 with its best revenues in Asian investment banking for over a decade. The U.S. firm, which is turning itself around under CEO Jane Fraser, advised on Nippon Steel's 5401.T acquisition of U.S. Steel, and won mandates when South Korean firms Hyundai 005380.KS and LG 003550.KS listed their Indian businesses in Mumbai. Morgan Stanley for the second year running generated the most fees in the region, encompassing M&A, equity and debt underwriting. Among Western banks, JPMorgan followed.

The locals are growing ever more powerful, however, with Chinese banks like CITIC Securities 600030.SS rising up the rankings because of their dominance in certain onshore businesses that global firms don't compete for. It means the real addressable market for Wall Street firms in Asia is probably around half the overall regional pie.

In equity underwriting, fee rates are compressing, instead of trending higher towards U.S. levels. As a percentage of total proceeds, revenue plunged from nearly 3% in 2000 to barely 1.5% in 2024, LSEG data shows. Bankers say fees on convertibles and block trades remain resilient. But Hong Kong IPO activity is also now dominated by secondary listings by firms whose shares already trade on mainland bourses. That's less demanding work, and so it pays less. Morgan Stanley Asia Pacific CEO Gokul Laroia admits the problem, though stabilising, is "pretty systemic".

Quirky brokerage fees have helped to cushion the blow for banks. Investors buying shares in Hong Kong IPOs pay 1% to firms handling stock sales. The charge was rarely talked about in the good times. It was introduced over 30 years ago when brokers owned the bourse that is now operated by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. The fee is not enough to compensate for wider compression, though. CATL's Hong Kong offering paid a 0.9% fee and 1% brokerage, for example, turning a derisory sum into one that's still nothing to brag about.

Meanwhile, outbound Chinese acquisitions - including Zijin Mining's 2899.HK bid for Allied Gold - are likely to remain a trickle given political sensitivities in Europe and North America. And other cross-border deals, such as UK drugmaker AstraZeneca's AZN.L licensing of weight-loss drugs from China's CSPC 1093.HK, involve only small upfront payments, capping the reward for bankers. In India, tycoons and state companies remain stingy fee payers and insist on building incentives into remuneration for capital-market deals. These clauses, which include variable components paid out depending on which investors are brought to a deal, are time-consuming to negotiate. Banks that are picky about their clients are better off. Hexaware HEXW.NS, backed by U.S. private equity firm Carlyle, paid a 2.5% fee for its Mumbai IPO. By contrast, Reliance's mega offering will offer banks more prestige than pay.

The biggest shift is in Japan. High levels of private equity-led M&A mean the country is taking a bigger slice of regional fees. Here, Morgan Stanley is the envy of its peers. Its joint venture since 2008 with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial 8306.T, which connects the Japanese lender's clients to investment bankers worldwide, underpins the Wall Street giant's top regional position. It also gives the U.S. investment bank extra heft outside of Japan: the duo came together to provide a $4.5 billion bridge loan for Tata Motor's TAMO.NS acquisition of Italy's Iveco, for example.

Morgan Stanley's partnership was underestimated when it was formed as part of a capital call for the U.S. bank during the global financial crisis. Replicating it now looks tricky. So to compete in Japan, global firms are ramping up their headcount and expanding their coverage - especially for the middle market, where the bulk of buyouts happen. Goldman's decision last year to combine its investment banking businesses in Australia, Japan, and the rest of Asia into a single, unified regional unit underscores the shifting pressures and opportunities for the bank run by David Solomon.

Geopolitical tension between the U.S. and China is also reshaping fortunes. Washington is allowing U.S. banks a wide berth: Morgan Stanley and Goldman, for example, advised on the Hong Kong IPO of artificial intelligence startup MiniMax this year. But Chinese clients are being selective. If they opt to have any international advisers on deals, they increasingly insist on using at least one non-U.S. firm. That's a tailwind for Switzerland's UBS UBSG.S and Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE.

Investment banking activity in Asia may be lifting off. But extracting fees won't be easy for Wall Street firms.

Follow Una Galani on Linkedin and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Asia Pacific core investment banking fees amounted to $16.5 billion in 2025, according to Dealogic. Core investment banking comprises equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions and debt capital markets. It excludes loans. Fees peaked at a total of $21.8 billion in 2021.

(Editing by Liam Proud; Production by Shrabani Chakraborty)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on GALANI/ una.galani@thomsonreuters.com))

Dec 31 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• GOT NEW JERSEY APPROVAL FOR MERGER OF UNITS MOBIQUITY VELOCITY SOLUTIONS AND MOBIQUITY

Source text: ID:nBSE1P3Wl

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

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Dec 4 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• SETS UP NEW DELIVERY CENTRE IN CAIRO

Source text: ID:nBSE2yY9QX

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

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Nov 11 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• HEXAWARE TECHNOLOGIES LTD - LAUNCHES TWO NEW INSURANCE SOLUTIONS FOR GOOGLE CLOUD

Source text: ID:nBSE42Zwsb

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

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Sept 22 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• UPDATE ON US H1B VISA REGULATION CHANGES

• U.S. VISA FEE INCREASE IMPACT EXPECTED TO BE IMMATERIAL

• COMPANY MADE NO FRESH H-1B APPLICATIONS IN APRIL 2025

• DO NOT ANTICIPATE FINANCIAL OR OPERATIONAL IMPACT FROM REGULATORY CHANGES

Source text: ID:nBSE3919Sc

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

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Aug 28 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• INKS PARTNERSHIP WITH REPLIT

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

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Aug 19 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• HEXAWARE, UPGRAD LAUNCH AGENTIC AI ACADEMY

Source text: ID:nBSE3tvZDy

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

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March 6 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• HEXAWARE ANNOUNCES COLLABORATION WITH SAN FRANCISCO UNICORNS TO BOOST FAN ENGAGEMENT

Source text: ID:nPrec1Bdca

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

(Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com)

March 4 (Reuters) - Hexaware Technologies Ltd HEXW.NS:

• HEXAWARE TECHNOLOGIES LTD - HEXWARE RECEIVES RBI COMPOUNDING ORDER FOR DELAY IN FILING FORM FC TRS

• HEXAWARE TECHNOLOGIES - RBI LEVIES 7.3 MILLION RUPEES FOR DELAY IN FILING FORM FC TRS

Source text: ID:nBSE7lrzPq

Further company coverage: HEXW.NS

((reuters.briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

Adds Carlyle executive comment in paragraphs 4-8, background and brokerage action in paragraphs 7-9

By Nandan Mandayam and Kane Wu

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Shares of Carlyle-backed Hexaware Technologies HEXW.NS rose as much as 10% in their debut on Wednesday, indicating rising retail interest in India's first billion-dollar IPO that struggled to achieve full subscription without an outsized help from large institutions.

The stock began trading at 745.50 rupees on the National Stock Exchange, above its offer price of 708 rupees. The blue-chip Nifty 50 .NSEI index closed marginally lower.

At the day's close of 762.55 rupees, the Indian IT exporter was valued at 463.4 billion rupees ($5.34 billion). Analysts had expected a flat debut against the backdrop of single-digit premium in the indicative grey market.

"The IPO of Hexaware is a testimony to both the quality of the asset and the depth of the Indian capital markets," said Amit Jain, managing director and head of India at U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group.

Institutional investors bid for nine times the shares on offer, while retail investors bid for only a tenth of the portion reserved for them amid market volatility and investor caution over the IT services sector.

Arun Kejriwal of Kejriwal Research said most large investors were not looking to push Hexaware's share price and book their profit.

The IT services exporter is returning to public after more than four years when it was taken private by its former owner Baring Private Equity Asia.

Carlyle CG.O, which bought Hexaware in 2021, sold about 21% stake in the IT services exporter through the IPO. It will continue to have a controlling stake in Hexaware after the listing as it expects more AI-driven growth, Jain said.

Brokerage JM Financial began coverage of the stock with a "buy" rating and a target price of 820 rupees, citing Hexaware's "strategy of going after scalable clients with a wider bouquet of services".

($1 = 86.8160 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

((Nandan.Mandayam@thomsonreuters.com; Mobile: +91 9591011727;))