TCS Q2 net up 14.7%

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest software services exporter, reported a 14.7-per cent rise in quarterly net profit, marginally below estimates as uncertainty in the global economy weighed on new outsourcing orders. TCS, a unit of the salt-to-steel conglomerate Tata Group, said on net profit for the fiscal second quarter that ended September rose to Rs 2,439 crore ($498 million) in accordance with international financial reporting standards. The company reported a 25.3% rise in revenue at Rs 11,633 crore, as per Indian Gaap versus Rs 9290 crore YoY. Q2 operating margins were at 27.1% versus 28.1% whereas Q2 net profit margin was at 21% versus 22.9% YoY. Revenue growth in dollar terms was up 26% YoY; 4.7% QoQ. International business growth was up 6.2% sequentially. N Chandrasekaran, MD of TCS said, "The company said that it had strong deal pipeline across all major verticals. Macro concerns remain but corporations in good shape." TCS added 35 new clients in the September quarter and said that there was major growth in US, UK and Europe. The company had a gross addition of 20,349 employees and overall attriton was down to 13.7%; IT services attrition was at 12.5%. The company's major clients include Citigroup, General Electric, British Airways, Sony Corp and British insurer Aviva. Infosys, India's No.2 software services exporter, last week reported a 9.7-percent rise in second-quarter profit, roughly in line with street estimates, easing investor worries of a sharp slowdown in the outsourcing sector. Shares in TCS, valued at about $45 billion fell by over 1 per cent on bourses as investors booked profits. The company's stock, which fell 2 per cent intra-day, closed 1.30 per cent lower at Rs 1,119.80 a piece on the BSE. India's IT services companies such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro earn about 85 per cent of their revenues from the US and European markets.