HCL Tech Q2 profit rises 43 pct, shares rally

HCL Technologies reported a 43.3 percent jump in quarterly profit on Tuesday as the No. 4 Indian software services company won outsourcing orders, driving its shares up more than 4 percent.

HCL, part of India's $76 billion software industry that predominantly serves customers in the United States and Europe, said consolidated net profit rose to 5.73 billion rupees for its fiscal second quarter ended December 31 from almost 4 billion rupees a year earlier.

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"HCL continues to increase its market share both qualitatively and quantitatively by leveraging its multi-service capability," Chief Executive Officer Vineet Nayar said in a statement.

Business from two of the company's top 10 clients would be more than $100 million a year, he said.

The company won 18 multi-year, multi-million dollar deals in the December quarter, excluding contract renewals, and added 2,556 employees, HCL said.

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"Over the years, they have struck some very large transformational deals," said P Phani Sekhar, a fund manager with the Portfolio Management Service of Angel Broking Ltd. "What remains to be seen is the outlook for outsourcing and particularly for offshoring."

Shares in HCL, which has a market value of $5.4 billion, were up 3.6 percent at 420.45 rupees by 10:24 a.m. after rising as high as 424.30, in a Mumbai market up 1.3 percent.

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Bigger rival Infosys last week lowered its annual revenue-growth outlook for a second time and warned of lower client spending due to the euro zone debt crisis.

Tata Consultancy Service, the country's top software services company, is expected to report a 23 percent rise in quarterly profit later on Tuesday.