TCS Q3 net profit surges 49.6 per cent to Rs5,314 crore

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's top IT services provider by market value, has posted a 49.6-per cent rise in quarterly profit, to log its fastest pace of increase in at least two-and-half years.

Consolidated net profit of the company rose to Rs5,314 crore for the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs3,552 crore a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue for the company rose 32.5 per cent during the quarter to Rs21,294 crore.

TCS, part of the diversified Tata Group, expects sales growth to accelerate next fiscal on increasing overseas demand for outsourcing services.

Encouraged by signs of economic revival in the United States and Europe, the biggest markets for India's $108-billion IT outsourcing industry, and increasing demand for the services offered by IT companies in the country, TCS has raised its hiring target for the fiscal year that ends in March by 5,000 to 55,000.

Worldwide IT spending, which last year logged its slowest pace since the financial crisis, is expected to accelerate by more than 5 per cent in 2014, according to research firm International Data Corporation.

"Based on initial discussions with our customers we believe 2014 will be a stronger year for us than 2013, as customers execute their business plans in a relatively stable environment," chief executive N Chandrasekaran said.

"I would say that the number of deals and the total size in terms of value of deals that we are chasing is much higher than the same time last year, than any of the quarters this year," he added.

TCS, which has major clients such as British insurer Aviva Plc and BT Group Plc, has been logging faster growth than its smaller peers like Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies.

HCL Technologies, India's fourth largest software services exporter, meanwhile, reported a 58.4 per cent year-on-year increase in its net profit at Rs1,496 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2013 against a net profit of Rs944 crore in the previous year quarter.

India's second largest IT firm Infosys had reported a 21-per cent rise in profit and also raised its outlook for the fiscal year ending on 31 March 2014.

The TCS stock closed 0.1 per cent ahead of the results at Rs2,350.30. TCS, which has a market cap of nearly $75 billion, saw its share prices rise nearly 76 per cent over the last 12 months, compared with a 6.4 per cent rise for the Sensex.