HCL Tech March-quarter net up 59 percent, beats f'casts

MUMBAI (Reuters) - IT services exporter HCL Technologies beat market expectations with a 59 percent rise in March-quarter profit, helped by increasing demand for outsourcing services.

Consolidated net income for the three months ended March 31 rose to 16.24 billion rupees from 10.2 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier, HCL Technologies said on Thursday.

That compares with the 15.51-billion-rupee average of 23 analyst estimates, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 30 percent to 83.49 billion rupees.

HCL's results follow stronger-than-expected profits at Tata Consultancy Services, the No. 1 Indian IT services provider, and at No. 2 player Infosys.

IT services providers are gearing up for stronger demand this year as an improving global economy encourages the sector's clients to boost spending on technology.

Exports by the country's IT outsourcing sector are expected to rise 13-15 percent in the current fiscal year that started this month, according to the National Association of Software and Services Companies, an industry lobby group.

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Sunil Nair)