India’s Covid-19 wave hits TCS profits

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PTI file photo
PTI file photo

Mumbai - Shares of TCS closed 0.67 percent lower in Mumbai ahead of the results being released.

By AFP

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Published: Thu 8 Jul 2021, 8:16 PM

Last updated: Thu 8 Jul 2021, 8:17 PM

The coronavirus wave that hit India this year badly ate into the earnings of the country’s biggest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services, the company said Thursday.

The IT giant reported net profit of Rs90.08 billion ($1.20 billion) in the quarter ended June 30, an increase of 28 per cent on the same quarter last year when figures were also cut by the pandemic.


On a quarterly basis, however, the profit of India’s second most valuable company by market capitalisation declined by 2.6 per cent, despite a strong performance in North America and Europe.

“It’s a story of two markets,” chief executive officer Rajesh Gopinathan told reporters.


“We have the core markets, which are growing very strongly and we have primarily the Indian market that has been significantly impacted, degrowing at minus 14 per cent.”

India suffered a devastating Covid-19 wave in April and May that inflicted tens of thousands of deaths and closed many businesses.

Wage hikes also affected what is usually a strong quarter for India’s IT sector, resulting in TCS’s operating margins shrinking by 1.3 per cent quarter on quarter, to 25.5 percent.

Revenues jumped 18.5 per cent year on year, to Rs48.85 billion, but against the previous quarter rose only 2.4 per cent.

Growth was led by North America, Europe and Latin America, where revenues grew between 16 and 20 per cent, year on year.

Big-ticket deals and contract renewals in the quarter maintained TCS’s order book at $8.1 billion, following record order wins of $9.2 billion in the previous quarter.

Chief operating officer N. Ganapathy Subramaniam called it another “superior quarter” for orders.

The company added 20,409 employees in the quarter, its highest net addition ever.

TCS was at the forefront of an IT boom that saw India become a back office to the world as firms in North America and Europe subcontracted work, taking advantage of a skilled English-speaking workforce. The company earns more than 80 per cent of its revenues from Western markets.

Shares of TCS closed 0.67 percent lower in Mumbai ahead of the results being released. — AFP


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