Tech Mahindra profit rises 23 pct, beats estimates

Employees work on their computer terminals on the floor of an outsourcing centre in Bangalore February 29, 2012.

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Tech Mahindra Ltd (TEML.NS), the IT outsourcing business of India's $15 billion Mahindra Group, b e at expectations with a 23.3 percent rise in second-quarter profit, boosted by increased client spending and a good performance at its unit Satyam Computer Services Ltd (SATY.NS).

Profit for the September quarter rose to 2.96 billion rupees from 2.4 billion rupees in the year-earlier period, Tech Mahindra said in a statement on Monday. That compares with analysts' average estimate of 2.48 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

India's $100 billion-per-year IT industry earns more than 90 percent of its revenue from services including maintaining computer systems and networks and software applications, and back-office support. The sector gets some three quarters of its revenue from the United States and Europe. Australia is also a big market for the sector.

Tech Mahindra, which is in the process of merging Satyam Computer with itself, may finish the task ahead of schedule, Executive Vice Chairman Vineet Nayyar said last week.

Billionaire Chairman Anand Mahindra, who bought Satyam in a government-sponsored sale in 2009, is seeking to create a consolidated IT services powerhouse by merging Satyam and Tech Mahindra, which provides software services to clients such as BT Group Plc (BT.L) and SAAB AB (SAABb.ST). (Reporting By Harichandan Arakali; Editing by Jijo Jacob)