Ayush Bansal
Image: Business Standard
Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest IT services company, on Wednesday posted a consolidated net profit of ₹9,769 crores for the quarter ending 31 December 2021 (Q3FY22), up 12% from ₹8,701 crores a year ago.
In constant currency (CC) terms, the revenue has surged by 15.4%, when compared with the previous year period. In dollar terms, the company said the stellar Q3 performance has helped it achieve $25 bn in annual revenue. The company’s board has also approved the buyback of shares worth up to ₹18,000 crores.
“The Board of Directors at its meeting held has approved a proposal to buy-back up to 4,00,00,000 equity shares of the company for an aggregate amount not exceeding ₹18,000 crores being 1.08% of the total paid-up equity share capital at 4,500 per equity share subject to approval from shareholders,” TCS said in a filing.
Its consolidated revenue during the September-December period stood at Rs 48,885 crore. It is up 16.4 percent from the year-ago quarter, with healthy double-digit growth across business verticals. This led by strong deal wins and an increase in digital spending by corporates.
Consolidated revenue in the year-ago quarter was Rs 42,015 crore and Rs 46,867 crore in the September quarter. The company made strong additions to its client list by adding 58 clients in the $100 million+ bucket (+10 YoY); and 118 in the $50 million+ bucket (+21 YoY).
Rajesh Gopinathan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, said: “Our continued growth momentum is a validation of our collaborative, inside-out approach to our customers’ business transformation needs. Customers love our engagement model, our end-to-end capability, and our can-do approach to problem solving. While mapping out their innovation and growth journeys, we are also helping them execute new-age operating model transformations to support those journeys.”
On Wednesday, TCS’ scrip on BSE closed 1.5% lower at Rs 3,857.
“TCS crossed a new milestone in its diversity journey in Q3, with the number of women in its workforce crossing 200,000. The company added 28,238 employees on a net basis. It takes the total number of employees to 556,986 as of December 31, 2021. Its policy of hiring local talent across the world has resulted in a globally distributed workforce including 156 nationalities,” the company said in a stock exchange filing. Despite these measures, attrition inched to 15.3% in Q3FY22.
Company approved Buyback
The company’s board also approved a share buyback of Rs 18,000 crore for Rs 4,500 per share in its meeting held on January 12. TCS board also approved a third interim dividend of Rs 7 per equity share for shareholders in its meeting held today. The dividend payment will be made by February 7 and the record date for the same has been fixed at January 20, 2022.
“We would like to inform you that at the Board Meeting held today. The Directors have declared a third interim dividend of ₹7 per Equity Share of ₹1 each of the Company. The third interim dividend shall be paid on Monday, February 7, 2022, to the equity shareholders of the Company. Those names appear on the Register of Members of the Company or in the records of the Depositories as beneficial owners of the shares as of Thursday, January 20, 2022. Which is the Record Date fixed for the purpose,” it said in a statement.
The IT bellwether conducted a buyback worth Rs 16,000 crore on December 18, 2020, and closed it on January 1, 2021. Over 5.33 crore equity shares were bought back under the offer for Rs 3,000 apiece