Tech Mahindra Q2 net up Rs 720 crore

India’s fifth largest software services firm Tech Mahindra on Wednesday posted a marginal rise in net profit at Rs 719.7 crore (Rs 7.19 billion) for the quarter ended September 2014 on the back of growth in manufacturing and telecom verticals.

The Mumbai-based company's net profit stood at Rs 718.4 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

Revenue grew 15 per cent to Rs 5,487.9 crore (Rs 54.87 billion) in the reported quarter from Rs 4,771.5 crore (Rs 47.71 billion) in the comparable period.

In dollar terms, the net profit stood at $118 million and revenues were $900 million in the period under review.

"Robust growth in key verticals this quarter underpins our belief in our strategy of continuous investment in capabilities," Tech Mahindra Executive Vice Chairman Vineet Nayyar said.

Tech Mahindra's active client count stood at 649 in Q2 compared to 632 in the preceding quarter.

The company added 2,580 professionals during the quarter to take the total headcount to 95,309. Of these, 66,175 people were with the software business, while 22,433 were in BPO operations.

Its cash and cash equivalent stood at Rs 3,434 crore (Rs 34.34 billion) as of September 30, 2014.

"We are seeing an increasing interest in digital enablement in our customer base, and our unique combination of capabilities in both the Communications domain and the Enterprise domain positions us well in the marketplace," Tech Mahindra MD and CEO CP Gurnani said.

The Q2 performance is a reflection of Tech Mahindra's strength in both these areas, he added. The results were announced after close of market hours. The scrip closed at Rs 2,396.50 apiece, up 1.16 per cent from previous close on BSE.

"With a quarter-on-quarter revenue growth of 7.2 per cent, their growth has been up to industry standards. Tech Mahindra has shown a strong increase in their IT revenue with 6 per cent owing to their significant multi million, multi-euro deal with Ahlstrom," Greyhound Research CEO Sanchit Vir Gogia said.