Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT services exporter, has reported stellar numbers that both beat Street expectations and topped
Infosys' performance in the September quarter.
The company's revenue came in at $3.34 billion, 5.4 per cent higher sequentially.
Analysts were expecting dollar revenues between 4.5 per cent and 5 per cent. In rupee terms, the firm's topline shot up 17 per cent to Rs 20,977 crore.
Infosys had reported
revenues of $2.06 billion for the September quarter, up 3.8 per cent sequentially.
There is good news on the profitability front as well. TCS' operating margins for the quarter came in at an all-time high, expanding by more than 300 basis points to 30.2 per cent, albeit aided by currency benefits. Profits grew 24 per cent to Rs 4,702 crore or Rs 24 a share.
Operating income crossed a billion dollars for the first time for the company.
The
TCS stock on Monday had hit a new high of Rs 2,214.65 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in anticipation of better results than Infosys, which surprised the Street reporting strong revenues. On Tuesday,
TCS' shares closed marginally up at 2,218.15.
The BSE Sensex was down 0.29 per cent to 20,547.62. TCS announced results after markets closed.
CEO N Chandrasekaran said the growth was broad-based, across industries and geographies. "The demand pipeline looks strong. We see tremendous opportunities going ahead," he said during a press conference in Mumbai.
Although the firm announced a rise in the number of $100 million customers and large deal wins, TCS' growth was also fuelled by smaller customers, the CEO added. The company reported the highest volume growth in the last nine quarters - 7.3 per cent.
"The results came above our expectations both on the topline and on the margin front. The constantly high volume growth reflects their effective sales and execution engine. They have been grabbing opportunities in the market," Dipen Shah, analyst with Kotak Securities told Business Today.
Will TCS be able to sustain margins at 30 per cent without currency benefits? That may be a difficult ask. CFO Rajesh Gopinathan indicated 26 to 28 per cent was more achievable in the long run.
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