By Sai Ishwarbharath B
(Reuters) – India’s HCLTech missed quarterly revenue estimate on Monday as clients cut back on discretionary tech spending, while the country’s third-largest software company also narrowed its revenue growth forecast for the current fiscal year.
The company’s consolidated revenue increased 5.1% to 298.9 billion rupees ($3.45 billion) in the third quarter, falling short of analysts’ average expectation of 300.68 billion rupees, as per LSEG data.
The company narrowed its revenue growth forecast for the current fiscal year to 4.5%-5%, from 3.5%-5% previously.
The IT major’s quarterly net profit rose 5.5% to 45.91 billion rupees, while analysts expected 45.82 billion rupees profit.
The company’s new deal wins stood at $2.1 billion during the quarter, compared with $2.22 billion in the previous quarter and $1.93 billion in the year-ago period.
India’s tech industry has been facing a growth slowdown over the last couple of years due to inflationary pressures and macroeconomic uncertainties.
However, analysts expect U.S. President-elect Trump’s pro-business policies to benefit Indian IT firms as the North American country accounts for over 40% of the sector’s overall revenue.
India’s $254-billion IT services industry is also usually on a weak footing in the December quarter as most clients scale down tech operations due to the holiday season in the United States and Europe.
Last Friday, shares of market leader Tata Consultancy Services jumped 5.6% after its CEO signalled a potential revival in demand, even as the company missed third-quarter estimates.
Wipro and Infosys will report numbers later this week.
($1 = 86.6770 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
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