TCS beats expectations with 23% surge in profit

Net profit rose to Rs 3,552 crore for the quarter ended December from Rs 2,887 crore a year earlier, TCS said on Monday. That compares with an average estimate of Rs 3,243 crore in a poll of 19 analysts, according to Thomson Reuters. India’s $100 billion IT services sector has been under pressure to sustain growth as clients in key markets including the United States and Europe maintain a cautious stance on tech spending due to an uncertain global economy.

Fuelling expectations the sector may be turning a corner, second-ranked Infosys on Friday raised its full-year revenue forecast after new clients and an acceleration in IT spending by existing customers helped the Bangalore-based company post a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit.

TCS, which does not provide detailed revenue forecasts, has said it expects to beat the industry’s export revenue growth forecast set by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). In November, NASSCOM said the sector was likely to meet the lower end of its revenue growth outlook of 11-14 per cent for the year ending in March.

“We believe clients are going to invest in making their operations ‘digital ready’ in 2013 and drive business growth,” TCS CEO N Chandrasekaran said in a statement, adding that TCS was well-positioned to take advantage of those opportunities.

The company increased the

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