Currency fluctuations among the Indian rupee, the pound sterling, the US dollar, the Australian dollar, the Euro, the South African rand and the Philippine peso could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Although substantially all of our revenue is denominated in pound sterling, US dollars, and to a lesser extent, Australian dollars, Euro and South African rand, a significant portion of our expenses (other than payments to repair centers, which are primarily denominated in pound sterling) are incurred and paid in Indian rupees and, to a lesser extent, in South African rand and Philippine peso. Therefore, a weakening of the rate of exchange for the pound sterling, the US dollar, Euro or the Australian dollar against the Indian rupee or, to a lesser extent, a weakening of the pound sterling against the South African rand or the Philippine peso would adversely affect our results. Furthermore, we report our financial results in US dollars and our results of operations would be adversely affected if the pound sterling, Euro or the Australian dollar depreciates against the US dollar, or if the Indian rupee or, to a lesser extent, the South African rand or the Philippine peso appreciates against the US dollar. Fluctuations between the Indian rupee, the Philippine peso, the pound sterling, the South African rand, the Euro or the Australian dollar, on the one hand, and the US dollar, on the other hand, expose us to translation risk when transactions denominated in such currencies are translated to US dollars, our reporting currency. The exchange rates between each of the Indian rupee, the Philippine peso, the pound sterling, the South African rand, the Euro or the Australian dollar, on the one hand, and the US dollar, on the other hand, have changed substantially in recent years and may fluctuate substantially in the future. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted, and may continue to impact, the proper functioning of financial and capital markets and may result in unpredictable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.
In addition, the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine may result in a global economic downturn and may result in unpredictable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, and in particular, may negatively impact the Euro, the pound sterling and other currencies in which our revenue is denominated. The withdrawal of the UK from the EU in January 2020 has created significant political and economic uncertainty regarding the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU. See “—The UK’s withdrawal from the EU may have a negative effect on global economic conditions, financial markets and our operations in the UK and EU, which could reduce the value of our ADS.” These developments have caused, and may continue to cause, volatility in the exchange rates between the pound sterling and other currencies.
The average Indian rupee to US dollar exchange rate was approximately ₹79.69 per $1.00 in the nine months ended December 31, 2022, which represented a depreciation of the Indian rupee by an average of 7.0% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately ₹74.49 per $1.00 in fiscal 2022, which in turn represented a depreciation of the Indian rupee by an average of 0.3% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately ₹74.25 per $1.00 in fiscal 2021.
The average pound sterling to US dollar exchange rate was approximately £0.83 per $1.00 in the nine months ended December 31, 2022, which represented a depreciation of the pound sterling by an average of 12.0% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately £0.73 per $1.00 in fiscal 2022, which in turn represented an appreciation of the pound sterling by an average of 4.6% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately £0.77 per $1.00 in fiscal 2021.
The average Australian dollar to US dollar exchange rate was approximately A$1.46 per $1.00 in the nine months ended December 31, 2022, which represented a depreciation of the Australian dollar by an average of 7.3% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately A$1.35 per $1.00 in fiscal 2022, which in turn represented an appreciation of the Australian dollar by an average of 3.0% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately A$1.39 per $1.00 in fiscal 2021.
The average Euro to US dollar exchange rate was approximately €0.969 per $1.00 in the nine months ended December 31, 2022, which represented a depreciation of the Euro by an average of 11.3% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately €0.860 per $1.00 in fiscal 2022, which in turn represented a depreciation of the Euro by an average of 0.3% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately €$0.857 per $1.00 in fiscal 2021.
The average South African rand to US dollar exchange rate was approximately R16.73 per $1.00 in the nine months ended December 31, 2022, which represented a depreciation of the South African rand by an average of 12.7% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately R14.85 per $1.00 in fiscal 2022, which in turn represented an appreciation of the South African rand by an average of 9.3% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately R16.37 per $1.00 in fiscal 2021.
The average Philippine peso to US dollar exchange rate was approximately PHP55.48 per $1.00 in the nine months ended December 31, 2022, which represented a depreciation of the Philippine peso by an average of 10.8% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately PHP50.07 per $1.00 in fiscal 2022, which in turn represented a depreciation of the Philippine peso by an average of 2.2% as compared with the average exchange rate of approximately PHP49.00 per $1.00 in fiscal 2021.
Our results of operations would be adversely affected if the Indian rupee appreciates significantly against the pound sterling or the US dollar or if the pound sterling or the Australian dollar depreciates against the US dollar or, to a lesser extent, if the South African rand or the Philippine peso appreciates significantly against the US dollar.
For example, the depreciation of the Indian rupee and the Philippine peso and the appreciation of the pound sterling and the Australian dollar against the US dollar in fiscal 2022 positively impacted our results of operations whereas the appreciation of the South African rand against the US dollar negatively impacted our results of operations during that year.
The depreciation of the Indian rupee and the South African rand against the US dollar in fiscal 2021 positively impacted our results of operations whereas the appreciation of the Philippine peso against the US dollar negatively impacted our results of operations during that year.
We hedge a portion of our foreign currency exposures using options and forward contracts. We cannot assure you that our hedging strategy will be successful or will mitigate our exposure to currency risk.
The international nature of our business exposes us to several risks, such as unexpected changes in the regulatory requirements and governmental policy changes of multiple jurisdictions.
We have operations in Canada, China, Costa Rica, India, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the UK and the US, and we service clients across Asia, Europe, South Africa, Australia and North America. Our corporate structure also spans multiple jurisdictions, with our parent holding company incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands, and intermediate and operating subsidiaries (including branch offices) incorporated in Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, India, Mauritius, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Spain, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US. As a result, we are exposed to risks typically associated with conducting business internationally, many of which are beyond our control. These risks include:
| • | | legal uncertainty owing to the overlap of different legal regimes, and problems in asserting contractual or other rights across international borders; |
| • | | potentially adverse tax consequences, such as scrutiny of transfer pricing arrangements by authorities in the countries in which we operate; |
| • | | potential tariffs and other trade barriers; |
| • | | unexpected changes in legal regimes and regulatory requirements; |
| • | | policy changes due to changes in government; |
For example, during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, proposed changes to the laws of the UK governing personal injury claims generated uncertainty regarding the future earnings trajectory of our legal services business in our WNS Auto Claims BPM segment, as a result of which we had expected that we would eventually exit from providing legal services in relation to personal injury claims. We also experienced a decrease in volume of and loss of business from certain clients of our traditional repair services in our WNS Auto Claims BPM segment in fiscal 2017. As a result, we had in fiscal 2017 expected the future performance of our WNS Auto Claims BPM segment to decline significantly and therefore significantly reduced our financial projections and estimates of our WNS Auto Claims BPM segment. Accordingly, we performed an impairment review of the goodwill associated with the companies we had acquired for our auto claims business and recorded an impairment charge of $21.7 million to our results of operations in fiscal 2017.
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, Brexit had a negative impact on the insurance industry and applied downward pressure on the expected future performance of the WNS Auto Claims reportable segment, due to contract renegotiations and loss of certain clients. These factors, together with the highly uncertain operating environment in the UK, have negatively impacted and caused us to significantly reduce our financial projections and estimates of the WNS Auto Claims BPM reportable segment from our previous estimates. Accordingly, we performed an impairment review of the goodwill associated with the companies we had acquired for our auto claims business and recorded an impairment charge of $4.1 million to our results of operations in fiscal 2020 for the remaining goodwill balance of our auto claims business.
The occurrence of other changes in legal regimes or regulatory requirements, or any other events associated with the risks of conducting business internationally, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
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