It is a good sign when a company that earns its living servicing global industries racks up a 14 per cent share price jump. Tata Consultancy Services on Monday did just that after the Indian IT outsourcing group trumped market expectations with its first-quarter results on Friday.

TCS is the industry leader, but no outlier. Infosys, the number two, had reported a 17 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise in net profits for the three months to June’s end, also beating market expectations. TCS, whose net profits rose 16 per cent quarter on quarter under US accounting standards, reaped more billings – revenues were basically flat on the prior quarter but up 12 per cent on the same period the year before – and widened its margins by 2.7 percentage points. Employees, accounting for 44 per cent of the cost base and usually the industry’s Achilles heel, were also a little cheaper in the first quarter.