The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

TCS full-year net jumps 31%; HCL Tech Q4 profit up 73%
Country’s largest IT services firm to pay Rs 13/share final dividend
TNS & Agencies

Mumbai/New Delhi, April 17
India’s leading software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services on Wednesday posted a profit after tax of Rs 3,597 crore for the fourth quarter of FY13, up 22% and largely in line with estimates. The company had reported a Rs 3,551.8 crore profit in the last quarter.

Net profit for the entire financial year came in at Rs 13,941 crore, up 30.9% year-on-year. FY13 revenues were reported at Rs 62,989 crore, up 28.8% Y-o-Y. Q4 EBIT margins came in at 26.5%. IFRS Q4 revenues were reported at Rs 16,430 crore, up 23.9% Y-o-Y and 2.2% quarter-on-quarter.

Q4 volume growth was reported at 4.4% Q-o-Q. The company won orders from customers including Nokia and BNP Paribas. Other income for Q4 came in at Rs 442 crore, versus Rs 221 crore in Q3, up 100%.

Commenting on the results, TCS CEO N. Chandrasekaran said: "TCS has delivered a year of strong growth with all markets and industry segments growing in double digits." According to him the pricing was stable throughout the financial year.

He said the company remained confident that 2013-14 would bring greater opportunities as tech plays an increasing role in reimagining business. "We continue to identify new growth engines and are investing ahead of the curve in products, platforms and intellectual property”, he added.

TCS told the BSE that the company’s board, at its meeting held on Wednesday, has recommended a final dividend of Rs 13 per share. Ahead of the results TCS’ stock closed at Rs 1,459.20, down 1.73% on the BSE.

HCL TECH PROFIT BEATS ESTIMATES: HCL Technologies, part of the top quartet of software firms bettered street estimates with a 72.6% jump in quarterly profit, driven by strong growth in infrastructure services.

Net profit jumped to Rs 1,039.9 crore for the third quarter ended March 31, 2013, from Rs 602.5 crore in the Jan-March quarter of 2012. The company’s performance is encouraging for the sector in view of that fact that IT bellwether Infosys posted just over 3% growth in its net profit.

HCL Tech’s revenues stood at Rs 6,424.6 crore during the reported quarter, up 23.2% from Rs. 5,215.6 crore in the same quarter last year.

“Amidst a challenging and uncertain business environment, HCL Tech continues on its growth trajectory fuelled by its Alternative Outsourcing approach, led by two unique value propositions of Alternative ASM and Enterprise Function as a Service,” HCL Technologies president & CEO Anant Gupta told reporters in New Delhi.

During the quarter, the company added 37 new customers, including one $100 million client. HCL Tech has won over $1 billion in large multiyear deals and over 90 per cent of them were from rebid market and more than 50% are integrated deals.

Daljeet S. Kohli, head of research at IndiaNivesh Securities said the company’s results were above estimates on all fronts.

TCS expects strong deal pipeline: CEO

TCS, India's top software services provider, expects its deal pipeline to be strong and fiscal year 2014 to be better than 2013, the company's CEO N. Chandrasekaran told reporters in Mumbai on Wednesday. The firm is interested in acquisition opportunities in Germany and Japan, he said. TCS, which plans to add 45,000 staff in FY14, reported a 22% rise in quarterly profit after winning orders from customers, including Nokia and BNP Paribas, earlier on Wednesday. — Reuters

Gold rout mars investor appeal
Most experts failed to see the collapse coming
Bulls retreat

London, April 17
Even the most fierce gold bulls must be feeling sheepish after bullion tumbled its most in 30 years, raising questions about gold's value as part of an investor portfolio.

Most experts failed to see the collapse coming. A Reuters poll in January of 37 banking analysts and consultants forecast another year or two of average record highs for gold, after 12 years of unbroken annual average gains from a spot low of around US $250 per ounce.

A long list of banks forecast gold would average more than $1,800 per ounce, up from $1,668 in 2012. They included ANZ, BNP Paribas, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered and Goldman Sachs. Only one, National Australia Bank, predicted below $1,600.

And even though banks had started backpedalling on those forecasts, most still favoured the fundamental case for holding gold as an alternative currency and hedge against inflation. And then came Cyprus.

An assessment of Cypriot financing needs prepared by the European Commission showed on April 10 that the troubled island would need to sell excess gold reserves to raise around 400 million euros to help finance part of its bailout.

On the same day, minutes from the March 19-20 US Federal Reserve meeting showed officials appeared on course to end their extraordinary bond-buying stimulus by year-end, which in turn would relax inflationary pressure.

Gold fell 1.6%, but appeared to stabilize the following day before plummeting around 5.2% and 8.4% Friday and Monday, respectively, as selling triggered more selling — the biggest two-day move in 30 years. Having cratered to $1,321/oz on Tuesday, bullion was priced near $1,380 on Wednesday, having started Friday above $1,560.

Investors in gold-backed exchange-traded funds in particular have exited in hordes.

"I don't think anyone thought we'd see the enormous move and volume of selling that we did see. It's done a great deal of damage to investors' confidence," said Sean Corrigan, chief investment strategist at Diapason Commodities Management in Switzerland.

"(It) looks like a capitulation, but in an asset that doesn't produce cash flow it is particularly hard to decide where to buy some more and if the move is finished," said Pedro de Noronha, managing partner at London-based Noster Capital. — Reuters

Gold dives to 20-mth low, Bargain buying on

Falling for the fourth straight session, gold prices today fell to its lowest level in 20-month by losing Rs 90 on sustained selling by stockist against restricted buying. After dropping Rs 3,160 in last three sessions, gold fell further by Rs 90 to Rs 26,350 per ten grams, its lowest level since August 17, 2011. Silver followed suit and surrendered Rs 425 to Rs 45,700 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers. It had recorded a fall of Rs 6,475 in previous three sessions. Both the precious metals remained in bear grip this week following a steep fall in prices in global markets on speculation of selling by the struggling Cyprus central bank. — Agencies

India seeks precision in monsoon forecasting by 2017

New Delhi, April 17
India has roped in almost all the world's major weather forecasters in its effort to accurately forecast monsoon rains in the next four years, director-general of the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, raising prospects for a rise of up to 15 percent in farm output.

Getting monsoon forecasts right is essential for Asia's third-biggest economy, of nearly $2 trillion. Agriculture, employing more than half India's population of 1.2 billion, contributes about 15 percent to this figure.

India's 235 million farmers rely on monsoon rains from June to September to water more than half the farm area in the world's second-biggest producer of rice, wheat and sugar, as only about 45 percent of arable land has irrigation facilities.

"About half-a-dozen Indian, and almost an equal number of foreign, weather offices have joined hands to help us bring more precision in forecasting," L. S. Rathore told Reuters in an interview. "We are hopeful of more accuracy in the monsoon forecast by 2017 with this collaborative research initiative," he added.

The IMD, which initially tied up with Britain and the United States, has also teamed up with the weather offices of Japan, Australia, and South Korea.

The department aims to deploy more radars and observatories on the ground and completely overhaul its mathematical model as the two main thrusts of its new programme, Rathore said.

The National Centre for Ocean Information Services, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting are among the Indian bodies involved in the collaboration.

The weather office now forecasts monsoon rains based on its long-term rainfall data for the past 130 years. It also considers ocean temperatures and atmospheric pressure.

There are two annual forecasts, one in April and the other in June, after the monsoon rains cover half the country.

The improved model would help the IMD issue four to five monsoon forecasts instead of two, and provide region-specific information as well, Rathore said.

"Almost all premier institutions of the world and India are involved in the exercise to take a look at the whole gamut of the meteorological process to sharpen our forecast," he said.

India has been able to accurately forecast monsoons, but finds it hard to predict extreme weather events such as drought, he said, adding that the new effort would end that handicap.

The IMD failed to foresee the worst drought in nearly four decades in 2009. As a result, rice output fell and India had to import sugar, sending global prices to a 30-year high. — Reuters

Vodafone India to invest $1 bn this fiscal

Kolkata, April 17
Despite uncertainty on the spectrum issue, telecom major Vodafone India said on Wednesday that it remains committed to the Indian telecom market and would invest another $1 billion in 2013-14.

"We are committed and will invest another $1 billion in India in FY 14 for capacity building," said Marten Pieters, managing director and CEO of Vodafone India, on the sidelines of the M-Pesa launch in Kolkata.

He, however, hinted that investments in India might not continue if Vodafone Group did not get returns from its investments.

The Vodafone group has invested Rs 81,000 crore in acquisitions and another Rs. 55,000 crore of capex in the past six years, but the parent did not get back adequate money as returns, Pieters said. "Is this fair?" he asked.

Asked about the 2G spectrum issue, he said, "We are ready to pay market related price." He said the price for the 900MHz should be benchmarked to 1800MHz for valuation.

On spectrum auctions, Pieters said: "We favour auction of unused spectrum, but not for the spectrum which is already in use for existing operations."

The department of telecommunications had reportedly declined to extend the licenses for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata service areas which was due to expire in 2014.

Asked what solutions the company wanted, Pieters said, "We are not unwilling to talk with the government."

He said the government should not differentiate between 800MHz (CDMA)and 900MHz spectrum pricing and offer a level playing ground. He also ruled out possibility of Vodafone India IPO unless uncertainties for the company ended. "We all need a more favourable environment," he said. — PTI

Semiconductor consumption in India set to rise 20% this year
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 17
Much against global trends, India’s semiconductor consumption rose 7.4% to touch US $8 billion in 2012 from that recorded a year ago. In contrast, worldwide semiconductor revenues fell 2.6% to touch $299.9 billion in 2012, according to a study by research and analysis firm Gartner.

“The worldwide semiconductor industry suffered serious disruption in 2012. Excess inventory in the supply chain was the key factor,” said Ganesh Ramamoorthy, research director at Gartner.

“High inventory levels impacted semiconductor consumption in India as well during 2012. However, a relatively better domestic economic climate and growth in consumer spending helped semiconductor consumption growth in India,” he added.

Of the three key electronic devices — mobile phones, PCs and LCD TVs, LCD TV saw the biggest growth of nearly 45% in terms of semiconductor consumption.

“With the global semiconductor industry poised for a rebound starting in Q2 of 2013, we expect semiconductor consumption in India to also grow. India’s semiconductor consumption will reach $9.6 billion in 2013, a 20% rise over 2012,” said Ramamoorthy.