BENGALURU, April 9 (Reuters) - India's top software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services beat profit and revenue estimates for the fourth quarter on Thursday, helped by strength in its North American market and a falling domestic currency.
Sales for the quarter rose 9.7% to 706.98 billion rupees ($7.63 billion), while net profit was up 12.2% to 137.18 billion rupees ($1.48 billion).
Analysts, on average, were expecting sales of 694.94 billion rupees and net profit of 136.46 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.
The company is the first major Indian IT company to report fourth-quarter results. Rivals Infosys and HCLTech are set to report later this month.
Software services firms bill in foreign currencies but incur most costs in rupees, benefiting when dollar earnings are converted.
Revenue from its North American market, from which the company derives nearly half of its revenue, grew by 2.5%.
"While the macroeconomic headwinds continue, we see sustained customer conviction in technology investments, which positions us well for the opportunities ahead," chief executive K Krithivasan said in a statement.
Annualised AI revenue - a key measure analysts were looking at for growth - crossed $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter, the company said, up from the $1.8 billion last quarter.
Two analysts said revenue growth at TCS' banking and financial services was "muted".
The segment, TCS' biggest revenue driver, grew 0.4%. Segment growth was led by life sciences and manufacturing, up 3.3% and 3.1% respectively.
TCS' order book for the quarter stood at $12 billion, up from $9.3 billion in the third quarter and down from $12.2 billion in the year-ago period.
($1 = 92.6575 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh and Sai Ishwarbharath B in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
