Tata Consultancy's Q4 net below forcast; sees growth

By Rina Chandran

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd posted a lower-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Monday, but sounded positive on growth prospects despite worries that a weak U.S. economy would hurt outsourcing deals.

India's top software exporter, which got half its revenue from the United States in the March quarter, said it would boost growth in new markets like Asia-Pacific, India, the Middle East and Latin America as part of its strategy to diversify revenue.

"We are confident of our growth prospects in FY2009," Chief Executive S. Ramadorai told reporters. "We will continue to be watchful of the external environment, especially the U.S. market."

Chief Operating Officer N. Chandrasekaran said Tata Consultancy, which said last month that two of its 15 biggest clients had delayed some projects in the March quarter, had a "healthy" deal pipeline.

"Specific financial clients in the U.S. have had some difficulties. So, there have been delays in starting of projects and in assured ramp-ups," he said. "But the deal pipeline is encouraging and ramp-ups have started happening."

Indian software exporters get the bulk of their revenue from banks and financial firms, sectors which have been battered by the turmoil in global financial markets.

Competent workers and cheaper wages have helped India's export-driven software services firms win large outsourcing deals from overseas clients, but growing evidence of a U.S. recession is a major concern.

India's $64 billion software services sector gets more than half its revenue from the world's largest economy.