TCS Q2 net rises 8% at Rs 6,446 cr q-o-q; announces dividend of Rs 7/share

Country's biggest software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Thursday reported an 8.4% sequential rise in net profit at Rs 6,446 crore for the July-September quarter on the back of improved business from clients. 

It reported net profit at Rs 5,945 crore for the April-June quarter. The company announced dividend of Rs 7 per share.

Revenue increased 3.2% sequentially at Rs 30,541 crore. 

TCS, the first Indian IT services firm to announce results this quarter, said that business grew across sectors, including higher growth from digital services.  TCS' digital revenue saw an increase of 31% year- on-year and accounted for 19.7% of the company's revenues.

"We experienced robust volume growth in Q2, driven by good demand across multiple industry verticals... Large deal wins this quarter, a good pipeline, and bottoming out of the retail sector softness positions us well," TCS CEO and MD Rajesh Gopinathan said.

He added that the company continues to gain share in the fast growing 'digital spend' of its customers.

"Our investment programme remains geared for growth. Continued investments in digital design and transformational capabilities are paying off, and it shows in the strong growth in our Digital business," TCS CFO V Ramakrishnan said.

During the quarter, TCS saw its IT attrition rate (LTM) come down by 0.3% sequentially to 11.3%. It added 15,868 employees (gross) and 3,404 people (net) in the September 2017 quarter, taking its total headcount to 3,89,213 people.

The company recruited 3,725 employees outside India, bringing the total to 6,979 in the first half of the fiscal year. 

Banking and financial services and retail saw continued softness, the firm said.

Having completed their wage hike process as well as the visa applications for the current year in the last quarter, their EBIDTA margins stood at 25.1%.

The sales from a number of large global deals, including the Lloyds Group deal, has translated into earnings. TCS has been highlighting its digital revenue since the last quarter, which was expected to rise on the back of higher demand for these services from European markets. 

The company added one client in $100 million and above revenue band.

Six clients have been added each in revenue bands of $50 million, $20 million and $10 million and above.

Shares of TCS today rose by nearly 2% ahead of its September quarter earnings announcement later in the day.

The scrip gained 1.92% to end at Rs 2,548.55 on BSE. During the day, it rose by 2.17% to Rs 2,555.

On NSE, shares of the company jumped 1.91% to close at Rs 2,548.20. The company's market valuation also surged Rs 9,198.76 crore to Rs 4,87,865.76 crore.

In terms of equity volume, 1.87 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE during the day and over 25 lakh shares changed hands on NSE during the day.