HCL Tech Q2 above expectations, appoints new CEO
Indian software services provider HCL Technologies has posted better then expected results for its second quarter, joining its rivals in signalling a pickup in IT spending. The company has also promoted current COO Anant Gupta to president and CEO.
For the three months ended December, net profit rose 68.5 percent to INR 9.65 billion (US$176.3 million) from the previous year, according to HCL Tech in a statement Thursday. This was better than the analyst forecasts of INR 8.26 billion (US$151 million), according to a Reuters survey.
"Our growth this quarter was driven by infrastructure and financial services, both growing in excess of
10 percent sequentially," said Anant Gupta, president and newly appointed CEO of HCL Technologies. He highlighted its "billion dollar booking quarter" was driven by six large transformational deals.
On the back of the strong performance, Gupta noted HCL was now ready to redefine the market with its alternative outsourcing (AO) model--an appoach which consists of business-outcome aligned IT services delivered through alternate delivery models like XaaS.
In the same statement, Shiv Nadar, chairman and chief strategy officer for HCL Technologies, revealed that previous CEO Vineet Nayar would continue his role as vice chairman and joint managing director until July 2013, and as vice chairman thereafter.
Gupta was named president last year and was considered a likely successor to previous CEO Vineet Nayar, according to news site Livemint. The report added there had been speculation about Nayar’s exit after he sold his entire stake in HCL last June.
Earlier this week, market leader Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has booked better than expected results for its third quarter with a 23 percent rise in net profit at US$651 million, fuelling hopes of a wider pick up in tech spending.
Rival Infosys similarly posted a better than expected quarterly performance for the quarterended December. Infosys had also upgraded its full year revenue forecast, after booking new clients signalling a possible pick up in IT spending by customers.