TCS Q2 net profit up 8.4% at Rs 6,586 crore, revenue up 7.8%

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: India's largest software services provider Tata Consultancy Services on Thursday reported a net profit of 8.4 percent at Rs 6,586 crore for second quarter ending September 30, 2016.

During the same period, the company's revenue grew by 7.8 percent to Rs 29,284 crore.

The country's largest software services firm had posted a net profit of about Rs 6,073 crore in the year-ago period while the revenue during the same period was at Rs 27,165 crore.

In a BSE filing, the Mumbai-based firm informed that uncertainties in environment had resulted in holdbacks in discretionary spend by customers.

TCS CEO and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran termed the second quarter as an "unusual" one for the company.

"Growing uncertainties in the environment are creating caution among customers and resulted in holdbacks in discretionary spending this quarter. In addition, volatility in markets like India and Latin America also muted revenue growth," Chandrasekaran added.

He said the quarter was "good" from a profitability perspective "where despite multiple headwinds, our disciplined approach and focus on operations have helped us deliver a strong margin performance".

"With technology increasingly at the forefront of business, we are confident that this is temporary... Over 180,000 TCSers are now trained with significant expertise in new digital technologies," he said.

Compared with April-June 2016, the company's net profit was up 4.3 percent, but revenue declined marginally in the said quarter, which is considered to be a strong one for the industry.

During the second quarter, growth was led by life sciences and healthcare, which grew at 4.7 percent sequentially in constant currency, followed by energy and utilities (up 3.6 percent.

Europe saw strong growth at 3.7 percent and Asia-Pacific at 3.5 percent sequentially in constant currency while North America grew 1.4 percent sequentially and the UK was flat.

India declined by 7.6 percent sequentially while Latin America also continued to show volatility, TCS said.

The company announced a total dividend of Rs 6.5 a share.

TCS added 22,665 employees on a gross basis and 9,440 net employees, taking its total headcount to 3.71 lakh as of September 30, 2016.

With PTI Input