KPIT Tech shares plunge; earnings disappoint

Reuters Market Eye - Shares in KPIT Technologies plunge as much as 14.74 percent, their lowest since December18, 2013, after the company's December-quarter earnings fell short of market expectations, dealers said. KPIT's net profit for the October-December quarter grew 20.5 percent to 607.8 million rupees from 522.6 million rupees a year ago, the company said late on Wednesday. Revenue declined sequentially and this had a negative impact on the IT services company's major strategic business unit margins, analysts said. "Dollar revenues were impacted by lower billing days during the quarter as well as extended furloughs at some of the company's larger customers, leading to unanticipated revenue loss," Angel Broking said in a note. Shares in KPIT Technologies were down 13.2 percent as of 3.03 p.m. (Reporting by indulal PM)