Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services company, on Thursday posted a 24 percent year-on-year increase in profit at Rs 8,105 crore for the quarter ended December.

But a miss in the margins took some sheen off the earnings.

These are the big takeaways from the company’s earnings:

The slip in margins was primarily due to cross currency headwinds and increased cost of doing business. ​The EBIT percent was at 25.6 percent compared with 26.5 percent a year ago and the estimated 27.6 percent.

Nonetheless, the company is on track to end the year with a double-digit growth.

Constant currency (fixed exchange rate that eliminates fluctuations when calculating financial performance figures) growth was at 1.8 percent quarter-on-quarter and at 12.1 percent year-on-year – the highest in 14 quarters.

The thriving Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) vertical continued to accelerate. The vertical grew at 8.6 percent year-on-year compared with 6.1 percent in the previous quarter (and 4.1 percent in the June quarter).

TCS had 45 $100 million clients compared with 44 in the previous quarter.

Digital is galloping. The vertical comprised 30.1 percent of revenue and grew 52.7 percent year-on-year. The deal pipeline entering the new year is strong, but digital momentum will be key.

The retail vertical grew 10.5 percent year-on-year despite a seasonally weak quarter.

Other quarter-on-quarter highlights:

Dollar revenue was up 0.67 percent at $5,250 million compared with $5,215 million.

Rupee revenue grew to Rs 37,338 crore compared with Rs 36,854 crore.

EBIT was at Rs 9,564 crore compared with Rs 9,771 crore.

Profit after tax increased 2.5 percent at Rs 8,105 crore compared with Rs 7,901 crore.

First Published:Jan 10, 2019 8:03 PM IST