HCL Technologies says profit falls on forex loss

Indian software services firm HCL Technologies Ltd. said quarterly profit fell 12.3 per cent as foreign exchange losses dented rebounding revenues from the U.S. and from media and financial services clients.

"Though there are signs of an early recovery in sectors like financial services, we continue to be cautious," chairman Shiv Nadar said in a statement on Wednesday. "We continue to see sustained recovery only by next year."

HCL's profit, however, beat expectations with earnings of 3.2 billion rupees ($66.5 million)in the July-September quarter under U.S. accounting standards _ $9.3 million, or 12.3 per cent, less in dollar terms than the same period last year. Revenue was 30.31 billion rupees ($630.1 million) a 25.8 per cent increase in dollar terms over the year-earlier period.

The company said its foreign exchange losses were $31 million for the quarter, up from $17 million the same quarter last year. Revenue from infrastructure services, and from media, retail, and financial services clients showed the most sequential growth. Revenue from manufacturers slid 8.3 per cent in constant currency terms from the prior quarter, while revenue from public sector energy and utility companies slumped 7.3 per cent in constant currency from the prior quarter.