MUMBAI, INDIA: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India's top software services exporter, reported a 28.7 per cent rise in quarterly net profit, beating estimates, as it won more outsourcing deals, cut costs and pressure on fees eased.

The company, part of the Tata Group that spans commodities autos and services businesses, said net profit in July-September rose to 16.24 billion rupees ($351 million) from 12.62 billion rupees reported a year ago under U.S. accounting rules.

A Reuters poll of 14 brokerages had forecast a net profit of 15.15 billion rupees for the firm which counts Citigroup, General Electric, General Motors, Lloyds TSB, Ferrari and American International Group among its clients.

Tata Consultancy's quarterly profit under the Indian accounting standards was 16.42 billion rupees. India's nearly $60 billion outsourcing sector is seeing some signs of revival in business prospects after getting badly hit by the global economic slowdown and financial sector turmoil that had forced clients to shut the tap on technology spending.

Infosys Technologies, the No. 2 software services exporter, last week slightly beat estimates in its quarterly net profit and raised its forecast for revenue and earnings in dollar terms for the full year to March.

Ahead of the announcement, shares in Tata Consultancy, which provides services such as consulting, system integration and back-office outsourcing, ended up 2.8 percent at 599 rupees in a Mumbai market .BSESN that rose 0.7 per cent.

Client budgets still pressured

MUMBAI, INDIA: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India's top software services exporter, said on Friday its overseas clients' technology budgets were still being tightly managed due to an uncertain economic environment.

The company, which beat estimates in its July-September quarterly profit, will add 8,000 staff in the quarter to December 31.