HCL Technologies Q3 profit jumps 59%, upbeat on deal pipeline

Fourth-ranked IT services firm HCL Technologies today posted a 59 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 1,624 crore in the quarter ended March 31, driven by strong growth in infrastructure services and its financial and manufacturing verticals.
The Noida-based firm, which posted a profit of Rs 1,021 crore in the January-March quarter of 2012-13, said in a statement that revenue from infrastructure services grew 31.5 per cent year-on-year. HCL Technologies follows a July-June financial year.
Revenue in the quarter increased 29.8 per cent to Rs 8,349 crore from Rs 6,430 crore a year earlier, beating market expectations.
HCL Technologies' results follow better-than-expected earnings from Tata Consultancy Services, the No 1 Indian IT services provider, and No 2 player Infosys.

HCL Technologies shares opened over 3 per cent higher and closed at Rs 1,424, up 1.04 per cent on the BSE.
"This has been a good quarter for us and the operating metrics are tracking well. We are increasing our relevance for the customer, cross-selling solutions. The bookings were over USD 1 billion," HCL Technologies President and Chief Executive Officer Anant Gupta told reporters.

The application services business showed a robust performance, he added.
Though the company does not provide revenue forecasts, Gupta exuded confidence in aggressively winning deals, especially in the re-bid market.
"There is significant momentum in the re-bid market, it's a 120 billion opportunity. We are competing with large international firms and winning deals. In Q3 alone, we have signed 12 transformational deals. The deal pipeline continues to be robust and should give us good momentum," Gupta said.

TCS had also said demand would be stronger in 2014-15 as the global economy improves and clients increase technology spends, especially on new platforms such as cloud, mobility, social and analytics.
IT-BPO industry body Nasscom has projected the sector's export revenue to grow 13-15 per cent in the current financial year.