Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's biggest software services exporters, on Friday reported a 7.3 pc year-on-year increase in net income to 8,701 crore in the quarter ended in December against Rs8,118 crore in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter rose 5.42 pc YoY to Rs42,015 crore compared with RS39,854 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The IT major said it was its strongest third quarter in nine years.

The company's other income fell to 6.91 bln rupees from 9.14 bln rupees a quarter ago. Total expenditure, excluding finance cost, was 308.31 bln rupees compared with 296.2 bln rupees a quarter ago. Finance cost was higher at 1.83 bln rupees from 1.74 bln rupees a quarter ago. This is the strongest December quarter growth in nine years, TCS said. "Growing demand for core transformation services and strong revenue conversion from earlier deals have driven a powerful momentum that helped us overcome seasonal headwinds and post one of our best performances in a December quarter," Rajesh Gopinathan, chief executive officer and managing director of TCS, said.

He added that the company is entering the new year on an "optimistic note" and its market position stronger than ever before. Gopinathan said TCS's confidence reinforced by the "continued strength in our order book and deal pipeline". V Ramakrishnan, chief financial officer at TCS, said the company saw strong growth across all its verticals. Operational benefits from its SBWS (Secure Borderless Workspaces) model allowed it to post the highest operating margin in the last five years, even after rolling out a salary increase this quarter, he added.

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