HCL Tech shares pare early gains to end 1 pc down

MUMBAI: Shares of HCL Technologies today pared initial gains to settle with nearly one per cent loss, even as the IT firm posted 78.1 per cent jump in net profit for the quarter ended September 30.

After touching a one-year high level during morning trade, the scrip pared the gains later in the day and ended at Rs 580.30, down 0.68 per cent on the BSE.

At NSE, the stock was down 0.86 per cent at Rs 579.50. Commenting on HCL results, Rajni Ghildiyal, Senior Analyst, Asit C Mehta Investments Intermediates said, " HCL Tech numbers positively surprised on the bottom line front... the operating margins came in at 22.2 per cent that expanded by 20 bps sequentially in Q1 FY13. The average salary per employee has increased by meagre 1.6 per cent QoQ. The complete impact of wage hikes is not incorporated in current quarter results".

The impact of wage hike is expected to flow in the next quarter results, he added.

According to Ankita Somani, Angel Broking, Research Analyst (IT): "HCL Tech yet again reported strong set of results. HCL Tech, with end-to-end IT capabilities and a strong client mining ability, is clearly emerging as a front runner and outperforming many of its peers companies."

HCL Technologies today posted 78.1 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 884.8 crore for the quarter ended September 30.

The company's net profit stood at Rs 496.7 crore in the July-September quarter of 2011.

HCL follows a July-June fiscal year. In the stock market, the Sensex ended at 18,610.77, up 33.07 points.