Nucleus Software Exports Limited (BOM:531209)
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At close: Apr 24, 2026
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Q1 24/25

Aug 5, 2024

Moderator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Dilsha, the moderator of this call. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Nucleus Software Quarterly Earnings Conference Call. For the duration of presentation, all participants' lines will be in the listen-only mode. We will have a question and answer session after the presentation. I would now hand over the call to Swati Ahuja. Over to you, Swati.

Swati Ahuja
Head of Investor Relations, Nucleus Software

Thanks, Dilsha. Good afternoon, everyone. This is Swati from Investor Relations team at Nucleus Software. A very warm welcome to all of you for Nucleus Software Earnings Conference Call for the quarter ended on June 30, 2024. For discussion, we have here from the management team, Mr. Vishnu R. Dusad, our Managing Director; Mr. Parag Bhise, CEO and Executive Director; Mr. Anurag Mantri, COO and Executive Director; Mr. Surya Kanoria, Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Ashwin Arora, Senior Vice President; Mr. Ashish Khanna, Marketing Head; Mr. Mukesh Bangia, Vice President; Mr. Abhishek Pallav, Vice President; Mr. Pradeep Malik, Vice President; Ms. Swati Patwardhan, Chief Human Resource Officer; and Mr. Tapan Jaiswal, Financial Controller. As you all are aware, Nucleus Software does not provide any specific revenue earning guidance.

Anything which is said during this call which may reflect our outlook for the future or which may be construed as a forward-looking statement must be reviewed in conjunction with the risk that the company faces. An audio and transcript of this call will be shortly available on the investor section of our website, www.nucleussoftware.com. With this, we are now ready to begin with the opening comments on the performance of the company. Post that, we would be available for question and answer session. With this, I now pass over to Vishnu sir. Over to you, sir.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Thanks, Swati, and wish you all a very warm welcome to this conference call. As you would have noticed, we have had a fall in our top line as well as bottom line. I would like to highlight to you that we do not give excessive weightage to quarterly, or for that matter, yearly numbers. We are focused on building a long-term enterprise, and hence, we would allow such things to happen to ensure that the talent which ensures that our customers get the services is retained, and the best talent is further attracted. It was in this spirit only that we had, in the year 2021-22, we had allowed our bottom line to hit a low of 7%, and then we have bounced back.

And in a similar situation, we are confident that we'll bounce back on, on the financial numbers also in coming quarters. With those words, a warm welcome to all of you, and over to Parag.

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Thank you, Vishnu sir, and welcoming everyone to this investor call for Q1. Apart from what Vishnu sir said, I wanted to specifically talk about a very significant long-term strategic initiative that we have undertaken. This is called Hoshin Kanri, based on Toyota Production System principles. This is to bring in continuous and long-term improvements in all areas of our work, for the ultimate objective of significantly enhancing our end customer experience. So this has been going on for some time now. We are investing heavily into this initiative, and we will share more updates going forward in this very significant initiative. Thank you.

Swati Ahuja
Head of Investor Relations, Nucleus Software

Thank you, Parag sir. Now, I request Tapan sir to put some light on the financial numbers.

Tapan Jayaswal
Global Head of Revenue Assurance, Nucleus Software

Thank you. Am I audible?

Swati Ahuja
Head of Investor Relations, Nucleus Software

Yes, yes. Please go ahead, sir.

Tapan Jayaswal
Global Head of Revenue Assurance, Nucleus Software

Good afternoon, everyone. Key highlights from financials are: consolidated revenue for the quarter is at INR 195.4 crores, against INR 210.3 crores quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year. Overall revenue in foreign currency, including India rupee revenue, is U.S. dollar the quarter, $25.3 million quarter-over-quarter, and $25.3 million year-over-year. Product revenue for the quarter is at INR 168 crores, against INR 179 quarter-over-quarter and INR 100 year-over-year. Revenue from projects and services for the quarter is at INR 27.4 crores, 30.9 crores quarter-over-quarter.

Expenses, cost of delivery, including cost of product development for the quarter, is 75.5% of revenue, 5% of revenue quarter-on-quarter, and 60.5% of revenue year-on-year. Absolute terms, this is INR 147.5 crores, against INR 133.5 crores quarter-on-quarter, and INR 125.1 crores year-on-year. Marketing and sales expenses for the quarter is 2.2% of revenue revenue quarter-on-quarter, % of revenue year-on-year. Terms, this is INR 4.2 crores against INR 6.9 crores quarter-on-quarter, and INR 7 crores year-on-year. For the quarter is 7.6% of revenue, 5.7% of revenue, and % of revenue. Absolute terms, 7.9, 7.9 crores quarter-on-quarter, 0.4 crore year-on-year.

For the quarter is at INR 28.8 crores, against INR 58 crores quarter-over-quarter year-over-year. The income from investments and deposits is at INR 14.8 crores, against INR 14 crores quarter-over-quarter, 1.3 crore year-over-year. Still, other income for the quarter is at INR 15.1 crore, against INR 14.2 crore quarter-over-quarter, and INR six point. Still, taxes are at INR 9.7 crores, 2.3 crore quarter-over-quarter, and INR 18 crore year-over-year. Profit is at INR 30 quarter-over-quarter, 3.6 crore year-over-year. six crore quarter-over-year. Total comprehensive income, which includes net profit and other comprehensive income, is at INR 31.2 crore for the quarter, against INR 46.1 crore quarter-over-quarter, and INR 56.6 crore year-over-year.

EPS for the quarter is at INR 11.28, as against INR 19.48 quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year. The foreign currency hedges on June 30th, 2024, we had $3 million forward contract at an average rate of mark- to- market gain of INR 0.04 crore. Any contribution from the top five clients for the quarter is 28.8%, 1.5% in the previous quarter. Order book position is INR 813.4 crore, including INR 752.2 crore of product business and INR 61.2 crore of project and services business. March 31, 2024, the order book position, INR 107.7 crores of product business, INR 22.3 crores of project and services business.

So cash and cash equivalent as on 30 June 2024 are INR 920.8 crore, against INR 808 crore as on March 31, 2024. This includes balances in current accounts of various schemes of mutual fund, INR 653 crore, fixed deposit of INR 191.3 crore, investments in tax-free bonds of INR 34.5 crore. With regard to receivables, we are at INR 175.4 crore against rupees. In the quarter, there is a gross addition of fixed assets of INR 3.02 crore, consisting primarily of INR 2.6 crore on computer and servers, and three crore on furniture and fixtures, this equipment, two crore on software. Over to Swati.

Swati Ahuja
Head of Investor Relations, Nucleus Software

Thank you, sir. Now may I request to start the question and answer session?

Moderator

Thank you, ma'am. If you wish to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star and one again. If you wish to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone keypad. We will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. If you wish to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone keypad. The first question comes from Samar Singh from TPS. Please go ahead.

Speaker 12

Yeah, good afternoon. Am I audible?

Moderator

Yes, sir.

Speaker 12

Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. I just have a question on our growth prospects going forward in the domestic market. I, you know, you mentioned before that, you know, FinnOne Neo account for 60%-70% of all retail loans that are given out by Indian finance companies. So I'm just wondering, you know, would you say that we are more or less saturated as far as FinnOne Neo is concerned in the domestic market or there's still customers that, you know, we could possibly convert to our product?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Thank you for your question. This is Parag here. No, there's no indication or belief that we have that the market is saturated. In fact, as we have been maintaining, we are getting good traction both from domestic market as well as from outside markets. So there's absolutely no saturation. We don't believe that.

Speaker 12

So, I'm trying to understand, like, when we are thinking of top line growth in the future, would that come from selling more FinnOne Neo domestically, selling more of our, you know, our other products in FinnAxia domestically, or would it come from selling FinnOne Neo to other geographies?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

I think we mentioned in the past. I think thanks to the COVID, when we, the product really started moving more in the domestic market. So last couple of years, we have been focusing more on India. But then, as we said in the past, the focus is now more and more on international markets, beginning with, including both whether where we are operating already. And we are also looking at developing a couple of developed markets getting into. Some we are already into, like Australia and Japan and one or two developed markets. So yeah, focus will be more international, but the domestic is also traction is good even today.

Speaker 12

As you, I think you mentioned, I think Australia, we have been around for a while, and we've got a couple of large, well, on the second tier banks that are on our FinnOne Neo. But, you know, the revenues and profitability in Australia doesn't seem to be as consistent as we see in the domestic business. Can you talk about why that's the case?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

No. So that's correct. You know, the new implementations are have to be added, and there are a few prospects with whom we are working and it could convert in due course. But yeah, so far, the implementations that we are doing in this second tier customers that you mentioned, got over, we are in a BAU mode there. So that's why you don't see a growth, so much of growth in that market right now.

Speaker 12

So, but the implementations that we are doing there are not, you know, like, like in India, we sort of move to more of a, we are trying to make it more of a recurring revenue model. Is that, is that, is that a similar model we are going to try and implement, outside of India as well? Or is that more of a one-time sort of implementation revenue model?

Surya Kanoria
CFO, Nucleus Software

Repeat the question.

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Recurring or one time?

Surya Kanoria
CFO, Nucleus Software

The subscription model.

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

So, okay, we have actually both models now, pricing models now available. If that is your question, we can go for a CapEx model also. We go for a recurring, subscription model also. Especially with the product being available now on cloud, a lot of our customers, smaller ones, prefer to go for a subscription model. So we have both options available.

Speaker 12

Are you, are you talking about domestically or are you talking about, you know, in the other markets as well?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

As well. As well. Other markets as well.

Speaker 12

Okay. I'll come back to you. Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from Rahul Jain, from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

Yeah. Hi,

Moderator

Yes, Rahul, please go ahead.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. Just trying to figure out the revenue performance, any important reasons-

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Uh, Rahul-

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

to this too?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Sorry, sorry, your voice is not clear.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Yeah, you need to adjust your microphone.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

Hello, is it any better?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Yeah, yeah, sure is.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

Yeah. So, what I was trying to understand is that, any specific reason we could attribute that the revenue performance has been, pretty stagnant for some time. I can understand this kind of a business can be very volatile on a quarterly basis. But it seems like, new revenue momentum has, is kind of, stagnant for some time, at least from the data that we see. Of course, there were earlier more data in terms of new client win and all, which were giving us some, bit of an input there. So I would appreciate if you could share in terms of how has been our new growth momentum in both India and emerging markets, or any other flavor that you could add on that?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

... Certainly. I'm very happy to let you all know that, our conversations with prospective customers are going, I would say, reasonably strong manner, and, there is sustained interest. Some of the conversations are taking longer than what we have been hoping. But having said that, we continue to talk to customers in at least eight countries about rolling out FinnOne Neo or FinnAxia for adding value to their businesses. And, simultaneously, our pipeline is also building reasonably well.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

Right. Right. And also in your media interview, you spoke about two elements. One was about, that the repricing is still due in 20% of your customer base. By what time you think this should go through, and has any of it happened in this quarter also?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

So as we had mentioned in the media interview, nothing has happened in this particular quarter on that front. And, you know, this is the balance 20% we are talking to them both in terms of either they upgrading to FinnOne Neo platform or, you know, continuing with the FinnOne platform. And, in that process, it's taking far longer than we had expected. We cannot let you know the time it will take.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

So, this element of whether they want to move or not, and this deferring to this repricing, is it because more people want to take time to think about it? Or is it because they are going for the Neo version, which may take time for eventually to migrate, and that's why it would be a delayed stance?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

So it's a combination of both the things. You know, sometimes our customers feel that they would be able to derive benefits from the, you know, the very sophisticated offerings that we have in FinnOne Neo, including hundreds of APIs and so on, and for that matter, FinnAxia, where we have substantial number of APIs and very sophisticated functionality. At the same time, then they, they are, they are, you know, not exactly ready for the, the migration. So it is, it is that combination that takes time.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

Right. Right. And in the cases that has happened, already, what has been the mix, where people have accepted the pricing, but they would have gone, for the newer version, or they would have stayed with the earlier version? Any mix, numbers you could share?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

I couldn't get your question. If you could repeat, please, please.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

I mean, what I was trying to understand is that, let's assume in the last five, six quarters, ever since we started this exercise, if let's assume 100 customers have moved to a newer pricing, out of that 100, what is the mix between, you know, clients continuing on the same older version versus the new version?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

As of now, I think the higher percentage is on continuing on the old version.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

Okay. And is it more about inhibition around for the change, or is it like the recurring costs related to Neo versus the older version could be a constraint for them to do the migration?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

So I think it is more to do with what, what I've mentioned earlier, more to do with, their internal, you know, sort of trade-off, whether, whether they want to, start leveraging the new functionality, today, or they want to do it, a year later or two years later, and then, so on.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

Right. Right. Understood. And on the wage hike, you said there is more than usual thing that we have done to retain talent. So any specific reason you would highlight in terms of what were the challenges that you observed at this point? And secondly, does this mean there isn't some excess provisioning for some incentive or any other reason which is in the quarter and may eventually normalize as the year progress, or this is the run rate that we have baked into employee costs?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

See, as far as that is concerned, it is a you know, normal run rate. And we have done what I mentioned in the you know, media interview was, we have done more than the industry hike. And that is consistent with the policy of you know, retaining the best industry-based talent that we have and and attracting equally good talent there.... from the market.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

Right. And just last one, and then I fall back in the queue, is that, you know, it seems that our investment, both in terms of people and in terms of our sales and marketing efforts, has been pretty affluent in last several quarters, while any meaningful advantage in terms of revenue acceleration is kind of missing or at least behind the curve. So is it on your expected lines, and you see that to benefit us in the subsequent quarter? Or you think it's slower than what you thought and it's more function of macro, which is causing the impact to be, you know, slightly slower than what you might have liked?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

It's slower than what we had expected, that much we can certainly say. The exact reasons, maybe we'll come back to you, you know, next quarter.

Rahul Jain
Director, Dolat Capital

Sure. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from Kevin Gandhi, from CapGrow Capital. Please go ahead.

Kevin Gandhi
Equity Research Analyst, CapGrow Capital

Hello. Hi, sir. I hope my voice is audible.

Moderator

Please be loud, Mr. Kevin. Just, just a moment.

Kevin Gandhi
Equity Research Analyst, CapGrow Capital

Hello. Yeah. Is my voice audible now?

Moderator

Yes. Please go ahead.

Kevin Gandhi
Equity Research Analyst, CapGrow Capital

So I just wanted to understand the reason for the top line decline across regions like Southeast Asia, Middle East, and like Australia. So basically, your focus has been on the international markets, as you just mentioned. Still, we are not seeing that growth traction. In fact, we are seeing, dip in the top line for such regions. So just want to understand that. And, like, when can we expect growth from these regions? And second one is, how much of the staff or employees have you added this quarter? Yeah, these are the two questions. Thank you.

Moderator

Sixty.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Yeah. We have added 62, you know, Nucleus to our team. Talking about, you know, growth in Southeast Asia, Australia, et cetera, yes, our conversations with the customers in those geographies, they are continuing, and we are quite confident that, you know, the growth will start happening in coming quarters.

Kevin Gandhi
Equity Research Analyst, CapGrow Capital

Okay. Okay, so these are my two questions, just saying. In any case, I will just join back with you. Thank you.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from Vinay Nadkarni from Hathway Investments Private Limited. Please go ahead.

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Thanks. Just wanted to check out, did you lose any customers because of repricing of your products?

Moderator

Okay.

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

No, no, we've not lost any customers because of the repricing. No.

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Okay. And second, on your current quarter revenues, how much of it would have come from new customers, and how much of it was from continuing old customers?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Sorry? Yeah. We are, this quarter's entire revenue is from existing customers.

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Okay. Lastly, if you can just give us a break-up of your business in terms of selling licenses and selling services. So if the total revenue that you are seeing, INR 195, how much of it would be from CapEx, and how much of it would be from software as a service? Both domestic as well as overseas.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Yeah. So INR 168 crore is from product, and INR 27 crore is from services, out of INR 195 crore.

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Okay. And, can you give a break-up in domestic, overseas? Are there more CapEx-driven in domestic or in overseas?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

No, we will not be able to give that breakup.

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Fine. And, so the whole idea of converting this into a software as a service business that wants, I mean, migrating people into that, has that not worked, or, is it still negotiations going on with your customers?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Mr. Nadkarni, this question is not clear, the last one. Can you repeat the question, please?

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Yeah, yeah. I'm just saying is the, the idea was to move, more business into annuity base so that there will be a visibility of growth, from annuity revenue. So was that, attempt and has that worked for you?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Annuity. So, as I said some time back, it's not that you are expecting growth only from annuity. That is something where we get good traction, especially from smaller customers. But as I said, we are open to both. Both options are there.

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Okay. But since we have, the recurring costs comes from the software as a service, the balance is still... You are still very heavy on selling licenses, right?

Moderator

Mr. Vinay, please be loud.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

... You know, need to adjust your microphone because we're having difficulty understanding your question.

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Fine. Am I, am I audible now?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Yeah. Just was asking you, in case, for going forward also, your focus would be more towards selling of licenses in India as well as overseas, or would it be also including more people in the cloud-based services?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

You know, we continue to focus on both the businesses and services as well as the products. So, there is no distinction as we are concerned between the two.

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Thanks a lot. Thank you.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Thank you. Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from Jatin Verma from Aurum Capital. Please go ahead.

Speaker 11

Yeah. Good afternoon. I have a couple-

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Hello?

Speaker 11

Yeah, I have a couple of questions. First one is, will you be able to give the revenue mix, India versus international for last quarter, for the concluded quarter?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Surya, give that, huh? Surya, you have the numbers readily available?

Surya Kanoria
CFO, Nucleus Software

Yeah. So this is Surya here. So the India revenue, domestic revenue, is 58% of our total revenue. International is 42%.

Speaker 11

58, 42. What was the number in the corresponding quarter of last year, Q1 of FY 2024?

Surya Kanoria
CFO, Nucleus Software

So the domestic revenue was 48%, the rest is international, 52%.

Speaker 11

Okay. So, my next question is: What is the price differential between the old version and the new version? And, the second part is: Can customer continue with older pricing on older version? Is that option which is available to the customer?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Okay, let me, let me attempt answering this question in a, in the following manner.

Speaker 11

Mm-hmm.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

The pricing of both our products, the older product as well as newer product, is directly dependent on the value that these products are able to deliver to our customers. We are in the process of, on an ongoing basis, we are in the process of communicating that value to our customers, and that is how the prices we arrive at. There's no formula as such that we can talk about.

Speaker 11

So is it like for transaction base or the value of the transaction? I mean, how does it work?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

It can be per loan basis. It can be per transaction basis, in case of transaction banking product. In case of lending product, it can be loan-based and/or, you know, size of the portfolio basis, so on.

Speaker 11

Okay. So coming, digging a bit deeper into this. So let's say, let's take an example of, let's say, a transaction-based pricing or something. So in the older version and the newer version, is there a change in what we will be charging to the customer? I mean, what is the corresponding hike? Just to understand, you know, I, I'll get to where, why I'm coming to this.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Yeah. So again, it will depend on which features of the new product the customer wants to use. So, depending upon the features that they want to use, they will be, you know, charged. If they do not want to use any specific feature, they will not be charged. That is how this pricing is. It is. You know, we have made it available in a manner that whatever our customers want to use, they need to pay only for that and not a penny beyond that.

Speaker 11

Okay. So just a question as to, I mean, obviously you would have received feedback from your customers. Could this be a bit confusing for the customers, you know, where so much of differential pricing and all that? Is it something which you're hearing from your customers, that there is, you know, too much of variables and too much of pricing difference or something?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

No, no, absolutely not, because we do make it clear to our customers that the value that they will be able to derive is, you know, multiple times of the return on the returns on investments are multiple times, and they are able to appreciate it.

Speaker 11

Okay.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Only thing is it's taking time, that's all.

Speaker 11

Yeah. Okay. So because that's true, that's my... That was the reason I was asking, because, over the last many concalls, we were, you know, seeing that, you know, customers will move, and, and obviously there is some pushback or something. Probably it could be that, you know, it is taking time or there is resistance or what... So the next question is basically, exactly what is the percentage number of clients which have moved to the newer version, and how many customers have we lost, that they are no longer using either our old or the new product?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

So there are, you know, single digit number of customers which, who, who have moved out of our older version. That, that is there, but we may not be able to give you the breakup of how many are on the old and how many are on the new.

Speaker 11

Okay. Now, in one of the previous questions, maybe I got it wrong or something, is that, I think it was mentioned that we got no revenue from new customers. Is that right, for the last quarter?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

No, no, no. You, you, you got it wrong.

Speaker 11

Okay.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 11

Okay, so basically, we have new customer acquisition, is what you are saying?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Sorry, sorry, sorry. Okay, okay. Let me, let me clarify.

Speaker 11

Okay.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

You got it right. We got no revenue from a new customer in last quarter. Yes, you are right. And then, validating,

Speaker 11

So, so the next question is, we have been spending significantly on, you know, higher employee costs, and I think sales and marketing and all that. So what could be the reason why we are not being able to... Is it, is it that the lead times are far higher than what we think, or that's how the industry is? You can throw some light on that.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Yeah. So lead times are higher, and part of the lead times being part of the reason lead times are higher is also, you know, this bit of complexity and in pricing and so on. So we are working on addressing those complexities and minimizing those lead times, and that's how we hope that we'll be able to start adding value to more and more new customers.

Speaker 11

Okay. Okay, my last and final question is, we have substantial cash on our books. Are we planning a big dividend payout or, buyback or something like that? I think that should be something which should be there on the board's, agenda, and I would strongly urge for that. Can you throw some light on that?

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

Yeah. So this is Surya here. So in terms of cash, we are sitting with good cash, and what we believe, and, since, quite some time, is that we want to keep cash to ensure that we are able to invest as and when required in our revenue, in our tools, in our new technology. Whereas, the other question related to, buyback or dividend is concerned, that decision will be taken by the board, and we will update you as and when we get, any agenda.

Speaker 11

The reason we are saying is because there is obviously, I mean, a change which is going to happen from October 1, regarding buyback and all that. So, you know, post that, buybacks, might not be very, you know, efficient way. But currently there is, so, I would strongly urge that the board consider this, is my submission.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

I will take note of that.

Speaker 11

Thank you. That's all from my side. Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from Tushar Vasuja from Yogya Capital. Please go ahead.

Speaker 13

Hello, am I audible?

Moderator

Yes.

Speaker 13

Okay, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. You already mentioned your order book figures, but I missed that. So can you please repeat that? What's your order book at the end of Q1 FY 25?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Do you mean... Sorry, do you mean order book or you mean pipeline?

Speaker 13

Order book. So both would be helpful.

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Order book at the end of the year was like INR 70 crore. That is the amount that we are tracking. The pipeline is decent. I mean, it's a good pipeline that we have. We have to convert it into real numbers, real orders. I cannot give a number to that, but it is sounding.

Speaker 13

Okay, sir. And the order book that you have right now, when would it be executed?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

It will be executed in the long term, in the sense that when the time gives the time for typically like three years to 10 years is there. So, probably at an average basis, it may be five to seven years.

Speaker 13

5-7 years?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Yeah.

Speaker 13

Hello? Okay, okay, okay. And sir, what's your outlook for revenue growth in FY 25?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

No, so this is something which we don't need. This is a forward-looking statement. We don't need that, Tushar.

Speaker 13

Okay, sir, fair enough. You also mentioned you had some pricing changes, and your margins have been quite volatile, so I don't want a forward-looking number, but what can be a sustainable level of margins going forward?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Well, so there I cannot give a number, but one thing which we are very confident of is like what you see in quarter one is bottom. We are going to improve from that. How much is something which we will not be able to provide a number.

Speaker 13

Fair enough, sir. Thank you. Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. I repeat, if you wish to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. We have a follow-up question from Vinay Nadkarni from Hathway Investments Private Limited. Please go ahead.

Vinay Nadkarni
Managing Director, Hathway Investment Private Limited

Thank you. I just wanted to know what are the new products that you are launching in this financial year, FY 25. Are there any new products planned?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

So, we actually work on these three product suites, which are going to us with this,

... the FinnOne Neo, the FinnAxia, and PaySe, which we also talk about. We keep enhancing them, so the latest enhancement is, in FinnOne Neo, we are now building the Islamic version, which is used in the Middle East, Malaysia, et cetera. So that's, a significant functionality enhancement that we are doing.

Speaker 13

Okay. That's it from my side.

Moderator

Thank you. Next question comes from Chinmay Nema from Prescient Capital. Please go ahead.

Chinmay Nema
Investment Associate, Prescient Capital

Hi, sir. Good afternoon, and thank you for taking my question. Could you highlight what are the top four, key areas-

Moderator

Chinmay, I request you to please be a little louder.

Chinmay Nema
Investment Associate, Prescient Capital

Am I audible?

Moderator

Yes. Please go ahead.

Chinmay Nema
Investment Associate, Prescient Capital

Hello.

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Yeah, better now.

Chinmay Nema
Investment Associate, Prescient Capital

Yeah. Am I audible?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Yes, yes, better now. Yes.

Chinmay Nema
Investment Associate, Prescient Capital

Sure. Could you highlight what are the key areas, top three, top four areas where you see the requirement for improvement and what are we doing in those areas? This is more about the somewhat underwhelming new client additions and revenue growth.

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

So, two things. One is definitely there is a focus, and Mr. Vishnu did talk about our being in talks with a lot of prospects. So, those that definitely increasing the new sales is definitely one area. On the operation side, the whole idea is how we can more and more improve the overall customer experience. I had talked about the strategic initiative of Hoshin Kanri. The entire thing is aligned to, through various smaller initiatives, improve the customer experience ultimately. These are the two things I would want to talk about.

Chinmay Nema
Investment Associate, Prescient Capital

So, do you have any plans of onboarding new people in the senior management in these domains from a short-term or a long-term perspective?

Parag Bhise
CEO, Nucleus Software

Sales senior leadership, yes, definitely, there is a plan. You would be aware that just last quarter, we both our CFO and CHRO have joined, so that way the management team is strong. Yeah, sales side, we definitely plan to onboard our leaders in different regions.

Chinmay Nema
Investment Associate, Prescient Capital

Okay, sir. Thank you.

Moderator

Thank you. That would be the last question for the day. Now, I hand over the floor to Swati for closing comments.

Swati Ahuja
Head of Investor Relations, Nucleus Software

Thank you, Dilsha. We would like to thank all the investors for joining us today on this call. I will now pass it over to Vishnu, sir, for his closing comments.

Vishnu R. Dusad
Managing Director, Nucleus Software

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your continued interest in Nucleus Software, and I would like to reiterate our commitment to build long-term value for our customers and all our stakeholders and the society at large. Thank you.

Moderator

That concludes our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may all disconnect now.

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