TCS jumps over 5 per cent after share buyback announcement

NEW DELHI: Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Thursday jumped over 5 per cent after the company announced a mega-Rs 16,000 crore buyback plan at Rs 3,000 per equity share.

TCS was the top gainer in the Sensex pack in early trade. The stock rose by 5 per cent to Rs 2,875 -- its one-year high -- on the BSE. On the NSE, it jumped 5.18 per cent to its 52-week high of Rs 2,877.90.

"TCS impressed with revenue growth of 4.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Broad-based growth across geographies and verticals indicates healthy recovery across segments," said a report by Motilal Oswal Research.

In 2017 and 2018 too, TCS had undertaken buyback offers of similar sizes. The board of directors of the company has approved a proposal to buyback up to 5,33,33,333 equity shares of the company for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 16,000 crore, being 1.42 per cent of the total paid-up equity share capital at Rs 3,000 per equity share, TCS said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

The buyback will be conducted via a tender offer route using the stock exchange mechanism, it added. TCS had on Wednesday reported a 6.87 per cent dip in the September quarter net at Rs 7,504 crore but said the demand has recovered faster than projected and will be sustainable going forward as well.

It had to set aside Rs 1,218 crore as provisions because of the trade secrets lawsuit filed by Epic Systems, if not the net profit would have grown 4.9 per cent to Rs 8,433 crore.

Revenues for the July-September period came at Rs 40,135 crore, up 3 per cent when compared to the year-ago period, and its chief executive and managing director Rajesh Gopinathan said the Rs 40,000 crore-mark was reached one quarter ahead of what was expected at the start of the pandemic and stressed that the company is in the midst of a "sustainable demand recovery".

It is confident about the demand recovery, which "stands on stronger legs", but the prevailing economic climate and realities on the health front make it "cautious", Gopinathan said. Other IT stocks like HCL Tech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Wipro were also trading with up to 4.5 per cent gains.