TCS fall 3% as Q4; US jury's $940 million fine weighs heavy

The shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) fell nearly 3% in an early trade on Monday after the US jury slapped last week two companies of Tata Group-Tata Consultancy Services and Tata America International Corporation- with $940 million (nearly Rs 6,253.6 crore) fine in a trade secret lawsuit filed by Epic Systems in the US District Court in Madison in October 2014.  

In the early morning trade, TCS stocks were trading down 2.94% at Rs 2,449.00 per scrip on the BSE. 

India's largest software services firm TCS will also report its fourth quarter (Q4) earnings in the evening on Monday. 

In its lawsuit, Epic Systems had accused TCS and Tata America International Corporation of "brazenly stealing trade secrets, confidential information, documents and data". It said that TCS took that the data while consulting for its customer.

TCS, however, said on Saturday that there was no IP infringement in the Epic Systems case and said it plans to "defend its position vigorously in appeals to higher courts". The Mumbai-based firm said it remains committed to protecting IP as well as its reputation and financial interests fully.

"While TCS respects the legal process, the jury's verdict on liability and damages was unexpected as the company believes they are unsupported by the evidence presented during the trial," TCS said in a statement.

At 1014 hours, the shares of TCS  recover slightly from the morning trade but still below the red line trading at 1.95% or Rs 49.10 at Rs 2,474.05 per scrip on the BSE. 

(With agency inputs)