With the robust quarterly earnings, IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) created history on Monday by emerging as the first Indian listed technology firm to cross the $100-billion mark in terms of market capitalisation (m-cap).
TCS also beat US-listed rival Accenture's market capitalisation of $98 billion and placed itself with $101 billion or Rs 675,934.95 crore on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The market cap of the largest company in the Tata group is now 52 per cent higher than all the other IT index companies put together.
"It is a very proud moment for all of us. TCS has been able to create value consistently by making the right investments not only in terms of technology, but also in terms of creating capabilities, building leadership and talent, seeding new markets and developing scalable world-class solutions," Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said in a statement.
Chandrasekaran also said he would like to thank his shareholders for their continued support.
Though TCS breached the $100-billion mark in market valuation in the morning trade, but it slipped below the coveted milestone at close of session. In the morning hours, the company's m-cap hit over $101 billion and it slightly, however, declined to $98.8 billion at the close of trade.
The rupee has weakened considerably since then and was at Rs 66.16 against the American currency in the morning trade. Shares of the IT major rose by 4.42 per cent to a record high of Rs 3,557 in intra-day trade on BSE on Monday. The stock later gave up most of its early gains and ended flat at Rs 3,415.20, up 0.26 per cent. On NSE, TCS shares settled at Rs 3,408.65, up 0.18 per cent.
In terms of equity volume, 5.06 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 75 lakh shares changed hands at NSE during the day. At the end of Friday's trading session, the IT major commanded a m-cap which was Rs 7,917.08 crore, just short of the $100 billion milestone at Rs 6,52,082.92 crore.
So far this year, shares of the company have risen by 26.5 per cent. The IT major accounts nearly 11 per cent of the total Sensex m-cap of Rs 6,081,286.82 crore.
TCS is the country's most valued firm followed by Reliance Industries ltd with a m-cap of Rs 5,92,427.82 crore, HDFC Bank (Rs 5,01,643.92 crore), ITC (Rs 3,35,801.17 crore) and Hindustan Unilever ltd (Rs 3,14,938.94 crore) in the top-five list.
The nation's largest software exporter TCS on April 19 reported a 4.4 per cent rise in March quarter net profit at Rs 6,904 crore. The Tata group flagship, which contributes around 85 per cent of the group's profit, reported a revenue growth of 8.2 per cent at Rs 32,075 crore for the three months to March. In dollar terms, the company had its highest revenue growth in 14 quarters at 11.7 per cent.
It also announced a 1:1 bonus of shares and a dividend of Rs 29 a share, taking the total payout to shareholders at Rs 50 for the year.