CGI Inc. (NYSE:GIB) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

George Schindler: Yeah. We do think that we can do that. The margin does remain strong. But we did call out some of the headwinds on business travel, which was planned. It’s related to BD. And of course, you see that nice uptick on the bookings. But we think that the big shift in that is behind us. So we would manage any future additional travel with the business. So I go back to kind of our levers for margin expansion, which remain and remain strong. Mix of business, you see the nice uptick in the bookings in IP and managed services. That hasn’t flowed through yet to the revenue. But when it does, we should get some pickup there. Global delivery, both offshore and the near shore is another opportunity for us. The merger synergies, as we bring the current acquisitions on board, and then the economies of scale as we grow. And the SG&A. So the expectation would be, as we move throughout the year, we should see some margin expansion.

Steven Li: George, on your M&A comment, so you mentioned IT services captives in the pipeline. I didn’t see IT. Are they just more difficult to come by in terms of potential targets?

George Schindler: I thought I did mention that, but I certainly meant to that we do have more IP related firms in the deal pipeline. So in fact, in the near term pipeline. So, yeah, they continue to be a focus. And we’re finding some that have both the services and the IP. Yes, that is a little more difficult, as I mentioned on the prior call, but we do see them. Now we just have to make sure we get the right company at the right price.

Operator: And your next question comes from Jerome Dubreuil from Desjardins.

Jerome Dubreuil: We’ve seen a slowdown in Microsoft Azure’s growth in their most recent results. It’s still very high growth. And some of their issues regarding optimization of cloud aren’t necessarily negative for you. But still, I think cloud has been a big driver of growth for IT services. What would you say is the impact of this slowing growth of cloud for Microsoft Azure on your business?

George Schindler: I think there’s not a direct correlation between Microsoft Azure and CGI. But indirectly, what I can say is, in support of some of what they’re saying, is that now a lot of the enterprises that we work with are looking at how do I connect some of the work that I did on the back end to some of the work I did in the front end. This is why I highlighted some of the enterprise architecture work we’re doing. They’re still viewing some of that as tactical to then build on top of that on their bigger digitization strategies. But again, we play on multiple sides in helping our clients, and so that slowing growth doesn’t really impact us. And I’ll remind you that there’s still a lot of work to be done in cloud, per se. But a lot of that work is helping the clients actually leverage the full power of the cloud. And that’s some of the cloud factors we have on the application side. The cloud providers don’t really play on that side, but, of course, we do.

Jerome Dubreuil: On the consulting front, you really sounded a beat on that segment of your business. We don’t necessarily see that with every one of your peers. And consulting can also maybe be a canary in the coal mine in terms of the macro environment. What are you doing differently from your peers that you’re seeing? Or is it just that you’re starting from a lower base?