MUMBAI: HCL Technologies said third-quarter profit fell by more than a third, hit by forex losses, despite a revenue rise, dragging the shares down more than 13 percent.
Profit for HCL, one of India’s top five software exporters, fell 36.4 percent to 2.18 billion rupees in the quarter to March, from 3.43 billion a year ago, under US accounting standards.
Shares fell over 13 percent in opening deals, before trimming losses to trade 7 percent lower at 128.85 rupees by 10:03 am, while the broader index rose 0.84 percent and the sectoral index fell 0.3 percent. Forex loses came in at 2.01 billion rupees in the quarter, HCL said, compared with gains in the year-ago period, as the firm hedged against a gain in the rupee, which in fact fell 4 percent in the three months to March.
India’s export-driven outsourcing companies have thrived for years by bagging contracts from overseas clients, but the economic slowdown and turmoil in the global financial sector have halted the sector’s scorching pace of growth. Peers such as Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy have been downbeat about forecasts for the financial year that began on April 1.
Revenue at HCL, which counts Deutsche Bank, Microsoft, Xerox and Cisco as clients, rose by a half to 28.62 billion rupees.
HCL won 11 contracts worth $250 million in the quarter. Shares in the firm shed 11.7 percent in the March quarter, compared with the IT index’s 2.6 percent rise and a 0.6 percent increase in the main index