BENGALURU (Reuters) - Infosys, India's second-largest IT services provider, reported better-than-expected third-quarter revenue on Thursday, aided by a pickup in demand in its banking and financial services vertical, and raised its full-year revenue forecast.
Revenue rose 7.6% to 417.64 billion rupees ($4.83 billion) in the October-December period, surpassing average analysts' estimate of 412.78 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Infosys also raised its full-year revenue growth forecast to 4.5%-5% from 3.75%-4.5% earlier.
The company's U.S.-listed shares moved higher after results and were last up 0.9% at $23.10 in U.S. premarket trading.
The banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), the company's largest segment that accounts for nearly a third of its revenue, notched a 6.1% revenue growth in the quarter, helped by a pick up in demand in the United States.
Commentary from major U.S. banks has shown an increase in IT spending even as cost reduction continues to be their key priority.
Tech spending in other industries too rebounded as all of Infosys' eight business verticals posted growth.
The Bengaluru-based tech major's total net profit rose 11.4% to 68.06 billion rupees in the quarter, surpassing the 67.29 billion rupees expected by analysts, as per LSEG data.
The December quarter is typically a seasonally weak quarter for India's $254-billion IT industry, due to furloughs and fewer working days.
Infosys' large order bookings, or deals over $30 million, stood at $2.5 billion during the quarter, compared to $2.4 billion in the previous quarter and $3.2 billion in the year-ago period.
Peers Tata Consultancy Services and HCLTech both highlighted early signs of discretionary spending picking up and an improvement in the demand environment.
($1 = 86.5510 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
