Mumbai: Currency volatility and wage hikes crimped the profits of largest software exporter TCS with a 5.9 per cent drop in the June quarter at Rs 5,945 crore, while its revenue inched up a paltry one per cent to Rs 29,584 crore.
The double whammy of wage hike and stronger rupee shaved off the IT giant’s operating margins by 2.30 percentage points to 23.4, missing the 26-28 per cent target.
In spite of many headwinds in the first quarter, which saw many in the industry giving out pink slips, TCS asserted that it has not laid off any employees.
Sounding optimistic, the industry bellwether said it is hopeful of clocking a larger number of small-ticket deals in the future, as digital gains more currency.
“We see a combination of strong demand for smaller projects coming out of newer areas like digital and some amount of very large transformational deals, especially in insurance. As that materialises, we should see a significant change in the environment,” managing director and CEO Rajesh Gopinathan said.
On the employee front, TCS' headcount came down by over 1,400 to 3.85 lakh over the past three months, but human resources head Ajoy Mukherjee asserted that there have not been any layoffs unlike at some of its peers such as Wipro, Tech Mahindra and others.
He, however, said recruitment will be lower this year after extra-hiring done in the immediate past, productivity gains and also training over 2.15 lakh of its staff in digital skills.
