TCS net up 14.8% in 3Q

Tata Consultancy Services, the country's largest software exporter, has posted a 14.18 per cent rise net profit, beating estimates, during the seasonally weak third quarter.

The Tata group company's net profit rose to Rs6,083.39 crore for the quarter ended 31 December compared with Rs5,327.55 crore posted during the same period a year ago.

The company's total income rose to Rs28,058.90 crore during the period , against Rs25,145.05 crore during the same period a year ago.

On a standalone basis, the company posted a net profit of Rs 5,956.72 crore in the quarter, compared with Rs 5,711.15 crore it posted for the year ago period.

"All our industry segments have exhibited growth in a traditionally weak quarter additionally accentuated by the impact of the Chennai floods. Our international business has grown smartly in constant currency terms with North America and Europe leading the way among major markets and Latin America among growth markets," said TCS CEO and managing director N Chandrasekaran.

"Digital will remain the core focus for enterprise IT in 2016 as our customers respond to competition in a global economy driven by real-time insights. With 13.7 per cent of our revenues coming from digital business and this segment growing at a higher sequential rate, TCS is playing an impactful role in partnership with customers," he added.

For TCS, growth in Q3 was holistic with all industry segments showing sequential growth with life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing, and hi-tech leading the way. Europe and North America led growth in major markets while Latin America and Asia Pacific led the growth markets.

''In a challenging quarter with significant cross currency and other headwinds, we have operated with rigour and discipline to deliver credible margin performance and generated excellent cash flows," said TCS Chief Financial Officer Rajesh Gopinathan.

As of 31 December 2015, TCS  applied for 2,536 patents, including 90 applied during the quarter. Till date the company has a portfolio of 302 granted patents.

TCS added a gross of 22,118 people (net addition of 9,071 employees) taking the total employee strength to 344,691 employees on a consolidated basis. The attrition rate (last twelve months) fell to 15.9 per cent.

''Our efforts to increase employee retention are working with quarterly attrition rates falling in Q3. Our hiring continues to support strong business growth and we continue to invest in building digital skills, with over 70,000 TCSers undergoing training in new technologies this year,'' said Ajoy Mukherjee, dexecutive vice president and global head, human resources.