BPS specialist WNS delivers strong quarter pre-acquisition

Given the timeline of its ongoing acquisition, this will likely be one of my last quarterly updates on business process specialist WNS. You can read about the rationale behind the deal here - Capgemini to buy WNS for $3.3bn, but it partly reflects how well WNS has focused and performed of late in a rapidly changing BPS landscape.

While FY results were not sterling, the business has shown resilience in tough market conditions and yesterday's Q1 2026 results look respectable with revenue climbing 9.5% year-over-year to $353.8m, driven by some new client wins and the Kipi.ai acquisition contributing 2.0% growth. However, the company faced headwinds from both healthcare client losses and continuing softer online travel volumes. The quarter's standout metric was constant currency revenue growth of 7.1%, demonstrating underlying business growth despite all of these challenges.

The pending Capgemini acquisition represents a strategic inflection point for WNS, positioning the combined entity to capitalise on the "Intelligent Operations" market opportunity. Time will tell whether this works for both, but given the direction of travel of the wider market and Capgemini's BPS ambitions, it certainly makes sense on paper.

Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 09:23

Tags: acquisition