— PHOTO: G. R. N. SOMASHEKAR

GOING STRONG: Nandan M. Nilekani, CEO, Infosys Technologies, addressing a press conference in Bangalore on Wednesday.

BANGALORE: Infosys Technologies continued with its dream run this fiscal as strong outsourcing from clients in western countries jacked up its net profit for the second quarter (July-September) by 52 per cent to Rs. 930 crore from Rs. 612 crore a year ago.

The company has declared an interim dividend of Rs. 5 per share (100 per cent on an equity share of par value of Rs. 5) compared to Rs. 3.25 for the corresponding period last year.

The country's second largest software exporter earned Rs. 3,451 crore during the second quarter, notching a growth of 50.4 per cent against Rs. 2,294 crore a year earlier, as it won 45 new clients and fresh orders on the strength of continued boom in global outsourcing.

On a sequential basis, Infosys clocked a 16 per cent growth in net profit during the second quarter compared to the first quarter when it posted a net profit of Rs. 802 crore. Revenues grew by 14.5 per cent during the quarter under reference over the April-June quarter when it earned Rs. 3,015 crore.

The second quarter performance beat the revenue forecast made by the company as well as market expectations. Infosys had initially forecast revenues in the range of Rs. 3,257 crore and Rs. 3,280 crore during the second quarter, a growth of 42 per cent to 43 per cent over the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

For the quarter ending December 31, Infosys expects to earn between Rs. 3,602 crore ($790 million) and Rs. 3,625 crore ($795 million) with a year-on-year growth of 42.3 per cent (41.3 per cent) and 43.2 per cent (43.2 per cent).

Taking note of the strong growth, Infosys has revised its revenue forecast for the full year. It now expects revenues in the range of Rs. 13,853 crore ($3.03 billion) and Rs. 13,899 crore ($3.04 billion) with a year-on-year growth of 45.5 per cent (40.6 per cent) and 46 per cent (41.1 per cent).

The company's revenues grew by 33.5 per cent last fiscal to touch Rs. 9,521 crore on March 31, 2006.

"Our robust organic growth coupled with investments in various strategic areas helped us to grow faster,'' said Nandan M. Nilekani, CEO and Managing Director. After absorbing wage increases and other strategic investments during the quarter, the company's operating margins improved by 2.5 per cent owing to lower visa costs, rupee depreciation and benefits arising from scale.

In the second quarter, Infosys hired 10,795 employees (gross), the highest employee addition in any quarter, taking the total headcount to 66,150, T. V. Mohandas Pai, Head, HRD, Education and Research, Infosys, said. It planned to hire another 5,700 persons during the third quarter.

Mr. Pai said the company had finalised a long-term retention bonus plan for senior employees effective April 1, 2007 to achieve a strong leadership team and the scheme would cover 170 employees in the grade of assistant vice president, vice president and senior vice president across the group. The board of Infosys at a meeting held on Wednesday approved a sponsored American Depository Share (ADS) offering consisting of up to $30 million equity shares as part of a long-term goal to feature in one of the major indices. As part of this offering, ADS would also be placed with Japanese investors through a public offer without listing (POWL). An EGM would be convened on November 7 to seek shareholders' approval for the offering.

All the shareholders would be eligible to offer their equity shares in the offering, Infosys said, adding that it would not be issuing any new shares in the offering. The proceeds of the offering (after meeting the expenses of the same) would be proportionately paid to the selling shareholders.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail