TCS

June 16 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• TCS PARTNERS WITH DENMARK’S RETAILER SALLING GROUP

• PARTNERSHIP FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, AI ENABLED CLOUD MIGRATION

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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June 3 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• VIRGIN ATLANTIC AND TCS EXTEND TWO-DECADE PARTNERSHIP

• PARTNERSHIP TO MODERNIZE AIRLINE OPERATIONS WITH AI-LED SOLUTIONS

Source text: ID:nnAZN3XJP2Q

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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By Haripriya Suresh and Sai Ishwarbharath B

BENGALURU, June 2 (Reuters) - Infosys INFY.NS CEO Salil Parekh's compensation rose 21.7% to 806.2 million rupees ($9.44 million), the company said in its annual report on Monday, making him one of the highest-paid Indian IT chiefs currently in office.

Parekh, the longest-serving non-founder CEO at the IT company, earned a fixed salary of 79.4 million rupees and bonuses of 231.8 million rupees.

The largest portion, 495 million rupees, resulted from the chief executive of India's No. 2 IT services firm exercising his stock options.

In comparison, Parekh earned $7.9 million in 2024 and $6.76 million in 2023, with the rise in pay, mainly due to a greater number of stock options exercised during the year.

For the financial year 2025, Infosys reported a revenue growth of 4.2% in constant currency terms, falling short of its forecast of 4.5%-5%. For the current fiscal year, it forecast a flat to 3% growth in revenue, signalling a weaker business environment.

India's $283-billion IT sector is facing another year of slowing growth, partly due to the U.S. tariff policies, which complicate forecasting market conditions in key markets and client segments.

"Majority of Infosys revenue is from the U.S. and other global markets. The compensation is in line and consistent with what companies of this scale and size pay globally. Boards of Indian tech companies are indeed aware and need their leaders to be retained and paid appropriately in this challenging environment," said K Sudarshan, managing director at executive search firm EMA Partners.

K Krithivasan, CEO of Infosys' larger rival Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS earned $3.11 million, and smaller rival Wipro's WIPR.NS CEO Srinivas Pallia earned $6.28 million, according to their latest annual report.

Infosys is one of the two among India's top five IT companies that have retained their CEO at the helm over the last 18–24 months, with HCLTech being the other.

($1 = 85.3600 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh and Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Tasim Zhaid)

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, May 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India’s largest-ever private credit deal is a prime example of investors having capital burning a hole in their pockets. Struggling conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji Group has just sold a 298 billion rupees ($3.5 billion) bond to a group including BlackRock BLK.N, Ares ARES.N and Pimco. Lending to financially challenged companies is where the fast-growing industry cut its teeth. But with around a quarter of assets in private credit providers’ portfolios sitting idle, per BNP Paribas, the hoops all sides are jumping through to get this deal done smacks of desperation.

For starters, it’s a zero-coupon bond, meaning the issuer pays no interest. That’s useful for SP Group. Granted, operating profit at the group's flagship company covers twice its interest bill for the six months to the end of September. That’s a big improvement from four years ago, per rating agency ICRA. But last year, the state-backed Power Finance Corporation declined its borrowing request, and rates on another unit's bonds rose after it missed deadlines for asset sales.

The bondholders make their money – a 19.75% yield – by buying the debt at a discount to face value and holding it until it matures in three years’ time. They don’t seem overly confident the borrower will stay out of trouble, as the terms include not one, not two, but three different layers of protection.

First, SP Group must pay back part of the debt if it sells certain assets. Second, its real estate business is providing a 100% guarantee on the paper. Even that’s not enough. As a third level of defence for its creditors, the issuer has agreed to stump up as collateral 9% of Tata Sons, around half its holdings in the company which owns large stakes in Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, Tata Motors TAMO.NS and more.

That pledged chunk could be worth between $8 billion and almost $19 billion, based on research by analysts at wealth manager Spark last year that factors in how much of a discount is applied to the unlisted company’s various public investments.

Trouble is, it’s not certain that Pimco and partners, which also include Farallon Capital Management and Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE, would be able to get their hands on SP Group’s portion: Tata Trusts, which is Tata Sons’ controlling shareholder, insists the stock is not "freely transferable". Despite their evident trepidation at SP Group's ability to repay them, the bondholders will be hoping they won’t need to put that to the test.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Indian conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji Group has issued an unrated and unlisted 298 billion rupees ($3.5 billion) three-year zero-coupon bond to companies including BlackRock, Pimco, Davidson Kempner Capital Management, Farallon Capital Management, Ares Management and Deutsche Bank, which also arranged the deal.

The deal offers a yield of 19.75% by being priced at a discount to face value. It is the largest private credit transaction in India, IFR reported on May 16, citing market sources.

(Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

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May 21 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• RECEIVES 29.03 BILLION RUPEES ORDER FROM BSNL FOR 4G NETWORK

Source text: ID:nBSE2K2Ths

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BENGALURU, April 23 (Reuters) - India's No.6 software services exporter LTIMindtree LTIM.NS on Wednesday marginally missed quarterly earnings estimates due to a revenue decline in its healthcare and consumer segments.

The company posted consolidated revenue of 97.72 billion rupees ($1.14 billion) for the quarter ended March 31, up 10% year-on-year, but below the analysts' average estimate of 98.57 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.

Its peers, Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS and Infosys INFY.NS, have previously flagged a difficult year ahead, as global economic uncertainty and cautious client spending further impact the sector.

The Indian IT sector, valued at $283 billion, is facing challenges due to U.S. President Donald Trump's unpredictable tariff policies, which are causing uncertainty and delays in technology spending decisions among its major clients.

Indian IT companies expect retail and manufacturing clients to be more exposed to the tariff turmoil and may resort to cost-cutting if uncertainty persists.

The company's quarterly profit rose 2.5% to 11.29 billion rupees, while analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 11.58 billion rupees.

Revenue at its healthcare and consumer verticals fell during the quarter by 16.2% and 1.9%, respectively. Its largest vertical, banking, financial services and insurance, grew 12%.

LTIMindtree's revenue from North America, which accounts for nearly 75% of its total, grew 6.8%, whereas its Europe market declined 1.5%.

"Our key verticals and a major geography drove our yearly growth despite an ongoing challenging macro environment," said Debashis Chatterjee, CEO, in a statement.

Its deal wins stood at $1.6 billion versus $1.68 billion in the previous quarter and $1.43 billion in the year-ago period.

The company's shares closed 5% higher ahead of the results.

($1 = 85.3880 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh and Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Vijay Kishore)

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Recasts throughout, adds analyst and CEO comments

By Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh

BENGALURU, April 22 (Reuters) - HCLTech HCLT.NS, India's third-largest IT services company, posted slightly lower-than-estimated fourth-quarter revenue on Tuesday, but projected growth opportunities to emerge from the global macro overhang.

The company expects "large opportunities" as clients use generative AI and other technologies to reduce costs in the tariff-driven environment, CEO C Vijayakumar said in a post-earnings conference.

"As I look beyond the uncertain short-term, I strongly believe there will be strong growth opportunities emerging out of the market," he said.

However, HCLTech expects the tariff-led turmoil to impact retail and manufacturing verticals and spill over to the other segments after fully kicking in.

The company's consolidated revenue rose 6.1% to 302.46 billion rupees ($3.6 billion) in the fourth fiscal quarter. Analysts on average expected revenue of 302.75 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It expects revenue growth to be in the range of 2% to 5% for fiscal 2026 that started on April 1.

"The street expectations on HCLTech's guidance were really low after Infosys' tepid number last week. HCLTech has delivered guidance (that) looks the best among peers in a conservative environment overall," said Piyush Pandey, lead IT analyst at Centrum Broking.

Industry leader Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS missed its quarterly earnings estimates and warned about clients delaying decision-making in discretionary projects. Larger peer Infosys INFY.NS has forecast flat to 3% revenue growth for fiscal year 2026.

HCLTech's quarterly net profit rose 8.1% to 43.07 billion rupees, compared with analysts' mean estimate of 43.56 billion rupees.

Deal wins for the quarter stood at $3 billion, compared with $2.1 billion a year ago.

Four of the company's seven segments grew during the quarter, with the telecom and media vertical expanding by 24.3%.

HCLTech shares closed 0.1% lower on Tuesday while the sub-index of IT stocks .NIFTYIT that ended 0.57% lower that day.

($1 = 85.1710 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Shreya Biswas)

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BENGALURU, April 17 (Reuters) - Shares of Wipro WIPR.NS fell as much as 6.3% on Thursday, a day after the company forecast a weak June quarter, adding to concerns over weak demand flagged earlier by rival TCS TCS.NS.

India's fourth biggest IT exporter on Wednesday forecast revenue in the first quarter to fall between 1.5% and 3.5% sequentially, with Chief Executive Srini Pallia saying "uncertainties have dramatically increased" heading into the new fiscal year.

At least 20 analysts have cut their target price on Wipro's stock, according to data compiled by LSEG.

"Wipro's outlook was weaker than what the market anticipated," said BOB Capital Markets said in a note, adding that a weak start for fiscal 2026 was "probably a harbinger for a third successive year of negative revenue growth".

Shares were trading down 5.6% as of 9.41 a.m. IST.

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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BENGALURU, April 16 (Reuters) - Wipro WIPR.NS, India's fourth-largest software services provider, posted lower-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter, hurt by macro uncertainties weighing on client spending.

The company's consolidated revenue rose 1.3% to 225.04 billion rupees ($2.63 billion) in the quarter. Analysts, on average, expected revenue to come in at 226.21 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.

($1 = 85.6410 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

By Haripriya Suresh and Sai Ishwarbharath B

BENGALURU, April 13 (Reuters) - Clients of India's Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS in the retail, travel and automobile sectors are more exposed to fallout from U.S. tariffs and they may resort to cost-cutting if uncertainty persists, the company's CEO told Reuters.

The banking and financial services sector - which makes up nearly a third of revenue for India's biggest software exporter - remains unaffected, TCS top boss K Krithivasan said in an interview.

The global trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump's back-and-forth on tariffs have made it difficult to forecast market conditions, making businesses hesitant about signing off on big spending decisions.

"The consumer business, hospitality business, travel, auto industry are the businesses that we have to watch out for. If the uncertainty continues for longer, those businesses may have to focus more on cost optimisation, but at this time, I have not heard anything," Krithivasan said.

Retail and manufacturing are the company's second- and fourth- largest revenue contributors, while banking remains the largest.

TCS earns roughly half of its revenue from North America, a crucial market for Indian IT service providers that are exposed to the tariff fallout through their U.S. clients.

The company missed fourth-quarter earnings estimates on Thursday and warned about clients delaying decision-making in discretionary projects.

TCS, however, expects the uncertainty to be "shortlived".

Krithivasan maintained he expects fiscal year 2026 to be better than 2025, as there were still legacy software and systems clients may have to replace in the medium- to long-term.

TCS also said a trend of clients consolidating their IT vendors has helped the company gain market share.

"Particularly when customers look at cost optimization as a key focus area, they will try to reduce the number of service providers. TCS has been a beneficiary of these consolidations that have happened in FY25," Krithivasan said.

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh and Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

(([email protected];))

** Software-services exporter Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday and also warned that uncertainty around U.S. tariffs was prompting clients to rethink discretionary projects

** Shares up 0.4% at 3,260 rupees in a volatile session on Friday, fluctuating between gains and losses

** Earlier in the session, stock dropped 1.1% in an upbeat broader market

SHORT-TERM DEMAND CHALLENGING; UNCONVINCED ON FY26 EXPECTATION

** Jefferies ("hold": PT 3,400 rupees) says growing pressures on discretionary IT spends, delays in decision-making likely to limit growth, margin expansion

** Nuvama ("buy": 4,050 rupees) expects demand environment to remain challenging for next 1-2 quarters due to macro uncertainty; but remain positive on medium-to-long term outlook as technology debt continues to be very high for enterprise

** Ambit Capital ("sell": PT 3,140 rupees) remains unconvinced on co expectations of FY26 being better than FY25, given co will have to grow at a steep 1.7% per quarter, compared with just 0.5–0.6% in FY24/25

** BOBCAPS ("hold": PT 3,072 rupees) says weak start for co in FY26 likely; profitability to improve in FY26 since low-margin BSNL deal shrinks

(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru)

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April 10 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD - APPOINTS AARTHI SUBRAMANIAN AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT AND COO

Source text: ID:nBSE3qGdkQ

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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Corrects syntax in paragraph 1

By Haripriya Suresh

BENGALURU, April 4 (Reuters) - India's $283-billion IT sector should brace for a rough year ahead as tariffs are likely to stoke inflation in its key U.S. market and force clients to cut spending, analysts said.

Although President Donald Trump did not impose direct tariffs on IT services, Indian firms are expected to feel the heat as clients, especially in manufacturing, logistics and retail sectors, adjust to the new levies.

That could slow deal cycles, delay existing projects and hurt revenue growth, analysts said. Bernstein and ICICI Securities rushed to cut their ratings on the Indian IT sector soon after the tariff announcement.

The tariffs come at a time the sector was counting on Trump to revive client confidence and discretionary spending after years of weak revenue growth.

The U.S. accounts for more than half of India's $190 billion software exports, making the sector sensitive to shifts in spending confidence among businesses in the world's largest economy. J.P.Morgan on Friday lifted global and U.S. recession odds to 60% after Trump's tariff announcement.

"With a rising risk of U.S. recession and uncertain decision-making, we think chances of fiscal 2026 being a complete washout are rising," J.P. Morgan said in a note on Friday, without giving specific numbers.

At least six analysts expect Indian IT firms to issue a "conservative" annual revenue growth forecast when quarterly results start next week.

Companies with a greater exposure to discretionary spending are expected to bear the brunt of any tariff-fueled slowdown.

"Discretionary IT spend will likely see an impact across the industry verticals. Companies to get impacted will typically be the high-growth companies in the large caps and some of the mid-caps where the exposure usually is much higher on the discretionary side," BNP Paribas analyst Kumar Rakesh said.

He added the impact of a potential slowdown could be apparent by the September quarter.

India's Nifty IT index .NIFTYIT fell 3.6% on Friday to take its losses for the week to 9.15%, the steepest weekly fall for the index in more than five years.

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan, Sonia Cheema and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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By Haripriya Suresh and Bharath Rajeswaran

BENGALURU, March 21 (Reuters) - India's information technology companies, among the worst-performing sectors this year, may not see a recovery in fiscal 2026, analysts said, after Accenture ACN.N flagged weak discretionary spending and demand in its quarterly report.

Accenture, the world's largest IT services player and a bellwether for the Indian IT industry, warned on Thursday that spending on discretionary projects in the quarter "was still constrained" and flagged no meaningful increase in client budgets.

Escalating global trade tensions following fresh U.S. tariffs on trading partners has sparked concerns over a slowdown in the United States - a key market for Indian IT companies.

"Whatever has happened in the last two months has created a higher level of uncertainty in terms of how the first half of fiscal 2026 will pan out and what impact it will have on the FY26 recovery rate," Amit Chandra, deputy vice president at HDFC Securities, told Reuters.

India's IT index is currently down 15.3% so far this year and is set for its worst quarter since June 2022. Top firms such as TCS TCS.NS, Wipro WIPR.NS, Infosys INFY.NS and HCLTech HCLT.NS lost between 11.2% and 18.1% this year.

Analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities said softening demand recovery and weak mega deal flow in fiscal 2025 will result in lower incremental revenue from mega deals in fiscal 2026 for Indian Tier-1 IT. "Companies will also face net headwinds from early stages of gen AI adoption," they said.

Citi Research has estimated that IT companies in its coverage could see revenue growth of 4% in fiscal 2026, similar to fiscal 2025, while Morgan Stanley expects growth assumption to be hurt due to subdued client spending.

According to Chandra, while banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) and healthcare verticals showed signs of recovery, the last two months' uncertainty has meant that clients across sectors are "going into a wait-and-watch mode", and can likely curtail spends.

Accenture also largely flagged delays and cancellations of new contracts in the U.S. due to the Trump administration's moves. However, while "Indian IT has limited exposure," according to Citi analysts, this can "increase competitive intensity in other segments".

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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March 20 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• TCS PARTNERS WITH THE CUMBERLAND BUILDING SOCIETY

  
  

Source text: ID:nnAZN3L2Y4T

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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March 19 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• TCS PARTNERS WITH AIR NEW ZEALAND

• SIGNS FIVE-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH AIR NEW ZEALAND

• PARTNERSHIP TO ENHANCE AIR NEW ZEALAND'S DIGITAL CAPABILITIES

Source text: ID:nBSE4xz7cf

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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March 12 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• TCS EXTENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH COOP DANMARK

• EXTENDED PARTNERSHIP TO SUPPORT CORE BUSINESS SYSTEM

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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March 11 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF DARSHITA SOUTHERN INDIA HAPPY HOMES

• ACQUISITION COST 22.50 BILLION RUPEES FOR 100% EQUITY SHARES

Source text: ID:nBSEb4V6Lj

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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March 6 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD - NORTHERN TRUST EXPANDS COLLABORATION WITH TCS

• TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD - TO DEPLOY BANCSTM PLATFORM FOR NORTHERN TRUST

Source text: ID:nBSE9fxXsB

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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March 5 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• TCS - TCS PARTNERS WITH VANTAGE TOWERS

• TCS- PARTNERS WITH VANTAGE TOWERS

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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Feb 28 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• TCS - TCS EXTENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH DNB BANK ASA BY 5 YEARS FOR NEXT-GEN BANKING

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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Adds details

By Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh

MUMBAI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - India's technology sector is expected to grow at a higher pace this fiscal year, driven by engineering research and development and the rising number of global capacity centres (GCC), or low-cost offshore hubs, industry body Nasscom said on Monday.

Nasscom expects the industry's revenue will grow 5.1% to $282.6 billion in fiscal 2025, compared with the previous fiscal's 4%, with revenue crossing $300 billion in fiscal 2026.

Software exports, comprising services and sale of products to clients, are expected to grow 4.6% to $224.4 billion in fiscal year 2025, the industry body said.

The sector is expected to add 126,000 jobs on a net basis, taking the total workforce to 5.8 million in fiscal year 2025, it added.

The industry's total headcount rose to 5.67 million in fiscal 2024 from 5.58 million a year earlier.

"Enhanced artificial intelligence implementation, the rise of Agentic AI, and the growing maturity of GCCs as value hubs are reshaping industry dynamics," said Sindhu Gangadharan, Chairperson, Nasscom.

Top Indian IT service providers such as Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, Infosys INFY.NS and HCLTech < HCLT.NS> have highlighted early signs of discretionary spending picking up and an improvement in the demand environment after a tepid 2024, in which growth nearly halved as clients held back spending and delayed decision making.

Agentic AI is considered the next frontier in artificial intelligence, allowing the system to operate autonomously and perform tasks on behalf of users through 'AI agents'.

AI's emergence has threatened to disrupt business models for Indian IT companies that largely serve clients in the United States for operations support, providing software as a service.

"The intersection of technology, geopolitics, and trade demands a bold response and enterprises must prioritise workforce tech transformation, build digital trust, and foster resilience to drive sustainable growth," Gangadharan said.

(Writing by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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Feb 20 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• LAUNCHES THREE INITIATIVES UNDER SALESFORCE COLLABORATION

• TCS PARTNERS WITH SALESFORCE

Source text: ID:nNSE7DdFKJ

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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Feb 19 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd TCS.NS:

• TCS COLLABORATES WITH MASSROBOTICS IN NORTH AMERICA

• TO DEPLOY A TEAM AT MASSROBOTICS’ BOSTON FACILITY

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: TCS.NS

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Feb 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India is pulling out all the stops to be on Donald Trump's good side. The country has already made tariff concessions and fielded a planeload of deported immigrants ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to meet the U.S. President at the White House. But it is migration, not trade, that will be the sticking point in bilateral relations.

Narrowing India's $35 billion trade surplus with the United States should be manageable. Earlier this month, New Delhi undertook wide-ranging cuts to duties on American imports from Harley Davidson HOG.N motorcycles to components used by Apple AAPL.O to build smartphones. The country can also pledge to buy more American weapons and oil. Shipments of the latter amounted to $5 billion, or just 4% of bilateral trade, in the year to March 2024.

What Modi can offer on migration is far less straightforward. Trump has vowed to deport millions of illegal workers in the country and as of 2022, India was the third-largest source of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. behind Mexico and El Salvador, per data from Pew Research Center.

The country also supplies a huge chunk of legal skilled workers: India accounts for 72% of so-called H-1B visas, which allow companies from Amazon AMZN.O to Alphabet GOOGL.O, as well as Indian giants like Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, to hire specialised overseas workers such as software engineers. The programme benefits both sides: Big Tech gets access to lower-cost talent while India's skilled labour can find employment. But visa issuances have shrunk in recent years and the programme is getting an intense backlash from some of Trump's supporters.

A possible deal could see Modi agree to accept deported Indians back into the country without fuss in exchange for U.S. officials to speed up H-1B visas. But a repeat of the spectacle this month of hundreds of handcuffed people alighting from a U.S. military plane would be politically embarrassing, and shines an ugly spotlight on India's lack of high-quality jobs.

The problem for Modi, though, is that he has a weak hand with Trump with the fortunes of India's top tycoons hanging in the balance. Infrastructure magnate Gautam Adani is battling fraud charges levelled by U.S. federal investigators and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which his Adani group denies. The White House can also squeeze access to cheap Russian oil that helps India to keep inflation low, and which its largest company, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries RELI.NS, is processing, or punish India with tariffs for pushing trade transactions in non-dollar currencies. A lot rides on Modi's U.S. charm offensive.

Follow @ShritamaBose on X.

CONTEXT NEWS

U.S. President Donald Trump has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House during February 12-14, Reuters reported on February 4, citing an unnamed White House official.

Separately, India slashed custom duties on motorcycles, such as those from Harley Davidson, with engine capacity of 1,600 cc or more, to 30% from 50% on fully built imports in the government’s annual budget announced on February 1. New Delhi also cut average tariffs to 11% from 13%, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey told Reuters in an interview after the budget.

(Editing by Robyn Mak and Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]))

MUMBAI, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The increasing use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) could boost the productivity of India's $254-billion software by 43%-45% over the next five years, according to a survey by consulting firm EY India.

This productivity boost, which EY India's survey states will span 500 roles, will come through the dual effect of the IT industry itself integrating elements of GenAI internally and as more client projects move from proof of concept to production.

Top IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS and Infosys INFY.NS have highlighted the use of AI by clients to do new projects and EY India said 89% of them have started trialling GenAI projects, with 33% of those already in production.

"Enterprises are moving beyond experimentation to putting AI into production at scale. The rapid transition from POC to enterprise-wide adoption reflects the industry's confidence in AI's potential," Abhinav Johri, a technology consulting partner at EY India, said in a statement.

Within the sprawling IT industry, EY India's survey showed that roles in software development will get the biggest productivity boost, of roughly 60%, followed by a 52% improvement for BPO services and 47% for IT consulting.

This trio -- software development, BPO services and IT consulting -- will account for 50%-60% of the overall productivity improvement in tech services, the survey showed.

The increasing use of AI is not only helping the IT industry enhance customer service but is also lowering costs and improving revenue growth, according to executives surveyed by EY India.

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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Adds details, executive comment in paragraph 3,4

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Cognizant Technology Solutions CTSH.O forecast annual revenue below estimates on Wednesday, as uncertainty about the path of future interest rate cuts forces companies to temper spending on IT services and consultancy.

Persistent high capital costs continue to strain IT spending, prompting enterprises to rethink spending on consultancy services while prioritizing investments in AI-related projects.

Still, an increase in spending by clients in the financial services sector helped Cognizant win more large deals in the fourth quarter than a year earlier, powering its quarterly revenue above Wall Street expectations.

"In North America, we are seeing an improved pipeline of opportunities for transformation and modernization projects across both insurance and select ADRs of banking and financial services clients," finance chief Jatin Dalal said.

The company's fourth-quarter revenue stood at $5.08 billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.07 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Cognizant's adjusted profit came in at $1.21 per share in the quarter ended December 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.12 per share.

The New Jersey-based company said it expects first-quarter revenue in the range of $5 billion to $5.1 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $5.06 billion.

Cognizant expects its 2025 revenue to be between $20.30 billion and $20.80 billion, lower than estimates of $20.89 billion compiled by LSEG.

It projected 2025 adjusted earnings between $4.90 per share and $5.06 per share. The midpoint of the forecast is $4.98 per share, compared with analysts' average estimate of $4.99 per share.

(Reporting by Priyanka.G and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)

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Feb 5 (Reuters) - Cognizant Technology Solutions CTSH.O forecast annual revenue below estimates on Wednesday, as uncertainty about the path of future interest rate cuts forces companies to temper spending on IT services and consultancy.

Persistent high capital costs continue to strain IT spending, prompting enterprises to cut back on consultancy services while prioritizing investments in AI-related projects.

Cognizant's shares fell 1.2% in extended trading.

Uncertainty around rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve this year is exacerbated by President Donald Trump's changes to immigration policies, tariffs and other initiatives, forcing companies to limit spending.

The company's fourth-quarter revenue stood at $5.08 billion, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.07 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Cognizant's adjusted profit came in at $1.21 per share in the quarter ended December 31, compared with estimates of $1.12 per share.

The New Jersey-based company expects first-quarter revenue in the range of $5 billion to $5.1 billion, compared to analysts' estimates of $5.06 billion.

Cognizant expects its 2025 revenue to be between $20.3 billion and $20.8 billion, lower than estimates of $20.89 billion.

It projected 2025 adjusted earnings between $4.90 per share and $5.06 per share. The midpoint of the forecast is $4.98 per share, compared with estimates of $4.99 per share.

(Reporting by Priyanka.G and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)

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Adds margins, revenue forecast, analyst comment

By Manvi Pant

Jan 20 (Reuters) - Wipro's shares WIPR.NS surged about 8% on Monday, set for their best day in nearly four years, after India's No. 4 IT services company joined its peers in signaling a revival in demand.

The company beat third-quarter profit estimates on Friday and forecast revenue in the current quarter could increase sequentially by up to 1%, compared with no growth last quarter, with CEO Srinivas Pallia saying, "We see discretionary spending slowly coming back" after macroeconomic challenges in 2024.

"The guidance is an improvement from the previous quarter, while the deal bookings, that include small- to mid-sized deals, indicate some revival in discretionary tech spending," said Piyush Pandey, an analyst at Centrum Broking.

Wipro's shares were also among the top percentage gainers on the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI index, which was trading flat. At least eight brokerages raised their rating on Wipro's stock, while 16 raised their price targets, as per LSEG data.

The company's forecast of a more promising 2025 echoed the view of larger peers TCS TCS.NS, Infosys INFY.NS and HCLTech HCLT.NS after the $254 billion IT services sector's growth was strangled for several quarters by clients reining in spending due to macroeconomic uncertainties and inflationary pressures.

Wipro's 11% increase in latest-quarter revenue from the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) segment, which accounts for about a third of total revenue, shows a pick up in discretionary spending, Jefferies analysts said in a note.

Asian Market Securities' analysts said Wipro's operating margin spiking to a three-year high of 17.5% was much faster than they anticipated and driven by rigour in deal execution.

Wipro expects revenue could range between a drop of 1% and an increase of 1% sequentially in the current quarter.

($1 = 86.4390 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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Adds details on forecast, analyst comment, background on peers

By Indranil Sarkar and Manvi Pant

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Shares of India's No. 2 software services exporter Infosys INFY.NS fell nearly 6% on Friday and were set for their biggest one-day decline since July 2023, as analysts raised concerns about the quality of earnings following its third-quarter report.

The stock was down 5.7% as of 11:49 a.m. IST, and was the top drag on the IT index .NIFTYIT and the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI, which declined 2.5% and 0.7% respectively.

Its U.S.-listed shares INFY.N fell about 6% overnight.

Infosys on Thursday raised its annual revenue forecast for the third time this financial year as its U.S. banking and retail clients warmed up to spending more on discretionary projects, echoing Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS and HCLTech HCLT.NS.

However, analysts were concerned about the "quality" of the earnings report, which overshadowed the outlook.

The revenue growth was driven by a higher component of "third-party items" in Infosys' deal pipeline, "which drove concerns around the quality of the beat and raise", Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note.

"Given that the commentary on small deals pipeline is not showing any meaningful signs of inflection, we now assume the (industry-wide) recovery to be more gradual than before," they said.

Small deals comprise more than two-thirds of the company's total deal intake, according to BofA Global Research.

Markets are awaiting further evidence of uptick in discretionary spending, not just commentary from IT companies, said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities research at SMC Global Securities.

Infosys shares gained 22.5% in 2024, outperforming TCS and LTIMindtree LTIM.NS, but trailed behind HCLTech, which rose 31%.

(Reporting by Indranil Sarkar and Manvi Pant in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Anuran Sadhu; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Varun H K)

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