Singapore: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said its deal pipeline for Asia-Pacific has improved in the past two months led by financial services and revenue could grow at a double-digit pace this year.

But the growth in business will still lag the 40% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) seen in the past five years before the current financial year, Girija Pande, the Asia-Pacific head of India’s top IT services company by sales told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

“Pipelines are improving, we think green shoots are now getting leaves,” Pande said.

“Will it come back and reach the 40% revenue growth that we have in the past? I doubt it will. 40% growth are not easy to maintain, but that’s the CAGR we have, but certainly it will be double digit growth,” he added.

Pande said the financial services firms are driving the deal pipeline for the Mumbai-based TCS, part of Tata Group that spans commodities, autos, and business services.

He reiterated that Tata Consultancy, which provides services such as consulting, system integration and manages call centres, is aiming to raise its headcount in China to 5,000 people in the next five years, up from more than 1,000 now.