Ramadorai: Healthy growth

Mumbai, April 20: Tata Consultancy Services — the country’s largest software exporter — has given its shareholders cause for cheer with the surprise announcement of a 1:1 issue of bonus shares.

The last time that the company came out with a bonus issue was in April 2006, which was also a one-for-one issue.

The announcement came after market hours.

On Monday, the TCS stock closed at Rs 560.40 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, down 2.2 per cent.

The bonus announcement capped decent results in the fourth quarter during which TCS saw its net profits grow 7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,333 crore.

Profits, however, fell 2 per cent sequentially.

However, under the US accounting rules, TCS recorded a net profit of Rs 1,314 crore, a rise of 4.7 per cent over the same period last year. This number was slightly below the Street’s consensus estimate of Rs 1,320 crore.

According to TCS, total revenues for the period were placed at Rs 7,172 crore, up 18.5 per cent year on year.

For the full year, TCS posted a net profit of Rs 5,256 crore, a growth rate of 5 per cent. It recorded revenues of Rs 27,812.88 crore, an increase of almost 23 per cent.

TCS said it had closed 28 large deals during the year and had snared 163 new clients.

Further, there was a rise in clients across revenue bands. While there was a record annual gross addition of 48,595 professionals, the total employee strength was placed at 143,761. The attrition rate was at 11.4 per cent.

S. Ramadorai, chief executive officer and managing director, said, “In an unpredictable operating environment, TCS delivered healthy topline growth of 23 per cent and crossed the $6billion milestone in revenues. By focusing on operational efficiencies, collecting cash more efficiently and driving an enterprise-wide cost control programme, we have improved our profit margins and continue to generate significant cash flows. Even after the recent cash acquisition, we have cash of nearly Rs 4,300 crore.”

The company will pay a total dividend of Rs 14 per share, including Rs 5 as final dividend.

Polaris profit

IT services provider Polaris Software has reported 50 per cent growth in its profit after tax at Rs 32.11 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2009 against Rs 21.45 crore a year ago.

Total income rose 18 per cent to Rs 337.25 crore from Rs 286.16 crore in the same period last fiscal.