India's Tata Enjoys Strong Second Quarter

Indian technology services provider Tata Consultancy Services posted robust second quarter growth in revenue and profits on the strength of several, major IT services deals and increased sales of business-process outsourcing services, the company said late Tuesday.

For the three months ending September 30, TCS said revenue increased 10% to $670 million while net profit jumped 20.7% to $155 million. During the quarter, the company added 5,600 employees to bring its total headcount to more than 53,000.

In the second quarter, TCS joined its Indian outsourcing rivals Infosys Technologies and Patni Computer Systems in gaining a share of a $2.2 billion outsourcing contract let by Dutch financial giant ABN Amro. In a statement Tuesday, TCS CEO S. Ramadorai said the deal shows that Indian services firms are poised to gain a bigger share of global outsourcing engagements. "There are big deals out there that will be available to companies like TCS," said Ramadorai.

Growth in business-process outsourcing services also is bolstering TCS's fortunes. The company's transaction-processing unit added 8 new customers in the second quarter in the banking, retail and pharmaceutical industries. It also opened a new BPO center in the Indian city of Chennai with a capacity of 1,000 seats.

The company did not provide a forecast for its third quarter or full year results.