Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported a reduction of over 5,000 employees in the October to December quarter, with its total workforce standing at 607,354 by the end of the period, down from 612,724 in the previous quarter.

Despite this decline, the IT services giant posted an 11.95% rise in net profit, reaching Rs 12,380 crore for the quarter, up from Rs 11,058 crore a year ago.

The company's total income saw a 6.13% rise, climbing to Rs 65,216 crore from Rs 61,445 crore in the previous year. This also surpassed the Rs 64,988 crore recorded in the September quarter.

However, operational expenses rose by 6.33%, amounting to Rs 48,550 crore compared to Rs 45,658 crore in the same period last year.

TCS’s stock closed 1.72% lower at Rs 4,036.65 per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), underperforming the broader market, which dropped by 0.68%.

Chief Executive K Krithivasan said the new orders were across industries, geographies and service lines, which lends a "good visibility to long-term growth".

He said the banking, financial services and insurance, along with consumer businesses are returning to growth and there are early signs of a revival in discretionary spend in some verticals.

These two trends, along with continuing strong growth in regional markets makes the company confident for the future, he added.

The operating profit margin came at 24.5 per cent as against 24.1 per cent in the quarter-ago period, but still lower than the aspirational bracket.

The overall workforce reduced by over 5,000 employees during the three months under review, and the overall base stood at 6.07 lakh as of December this year. The IT services attrition stood at 13 per cent.

Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad said campus hirings are going according to plan and the company is preparing to onboard a higher number of campus hires next year.

The company board announced a dividend of Rs 76 per share, including a special dividend of Rs 66 per share.

TCS also announced the acquisition of land bank in Bengaluru from a Tata Group company for Rs 1,625 crore.

The TCS scrip closed 1.72 per cent down at Rs 4,036.65 apiece on the BSE on Thursday, as against a 0.68 per cent correction on the benchmark