TCS net profit surges 49.6 percent, beats estimates

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd said quarterly consolidated net profit surged 49.6 percent, its fastest pace of increase in at least two-and-half years, helped by increasing demand for outsourcing services in the United States and Europe.

Consolidated net profit rose to 53.14 billion rupees for the quarter ended December from 35.52 billion rupees a year earlier, TCS said on Thursday. The profit beat the average estimate of 51.3 billion rupees, according to a Thomson Reuters poll of 23 analysts.

Shares of Tata Consultancy, the leader in India's export-driven $108 billion IT outsourcing industry, have risen nearly 76 percent over the last 12 months, compared with a 6.4 percent rise for the main index.

The stock closed down 0.14 percent ahead of the earnings announcement at 2,350.30 rupees.

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Additional reporting by Tripti Kalro; Editing by Miral Fahmy and Sunil Nair)