India's HCLTech beats first-quarter revenue estimates

BENGALURU, July 13 : Indian software services exporter HCLTech beat analysts' expectations for first-quarter revenue on Monday, buoyed by strength in its financial services, technology and retail segments.

The country's third-largest IT services firm posted a 13.94 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated revenue to 345.79 billion rupees ($3.62 billion) during the April-June quarter. Analysts, on average, estimated revenue of 343.5 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

A weaker rupee also ​boosted revenue for IT firms as they bill clients in foreign currencies. The local currency depreciated by around 9 per cent against the U.S. dollar in the June quarter.

Revenue in constant currency, or stripping out exchange-rate effects, rose 2.6 per cent.

Analysts have lowered their expectations for India's $315-billion IT industry as global clients cut non-essential tech spending and fears mount that advanced AI tools could disrupt software companies' business models.

HCLTech's quarterly net profit rose 20.3 per cent to 46.24 billion rupees, while analysts estimated 45.12 billion rupees.

The company's new bookings stood at $2.4 billion in the quarter, compared with $1.9 billion in the previous three-month period and $1.8 billion a year ago.

Its advanced AI revenue, or revenue it derives exclusively from providing services such as agentic AI and AI engineering to its clients, grew to $171 million from $155 million in the preceding quarter.

Last week, larger rival Tata Consultancy Services also beat quarterly revenue estimates, raising hopes for a gradual earnings recovery for the Indian IT sector.

Shares of HCLTech closed up 4.9 per cent ahead of the results.

($1 = 95.6200 Indian rupees)