Infosys Q2 net up 24.29% at Rs 2,369 crore

Infosys on Friday posted 24.3 per cent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,369 crore (Rs 23.69 billion) for the July-September quarter, but its guidance disappointed the market pulling down the scrip by about 8 per cent.

Citing global economic uncertainties, Infosys lowered its revenue growth guidance for the current financial year to 17.3
per cent setting off alarm bells.

The company's net profit was Rs 1,906 crore (Rs 19.06 billion) for the same quarter last fiscal (2011-12).

Infosys said in a statement that its revenues were up 21.7 per cent at Rs 9,858 crore (Rs 98.58 billion) during the second quarter, from Rs 8,099 crore (Rs 80.99 billion) in the year-ago period.

. . .

Infosys, which has undergone a slew of management changes in the last one year, said V Balakrishnan will give up his position as CFO from October 31.

"Global economic uncertainties continue to face the industry. We have increased employee wages, used some of our cash in a transformational acquisition of a consulting business and enhanced our investment in R&D and solutions," Infosys CEO and Managing Director S D Shibulal said.

These initiatives will position us well in the industry and provide a strong platform for future growth, he added.

. . .

Reacting to the results, the company's scrip tumbled 7.76 from Thursday's close to Rs 2,335 apiece on the BSE.

It recovered a little, but was still down 5.6 per cent at Rs 2,390 at 1043 hours.

"The result is in line with street expectations but weak guidance pulled down the scrip on the bourses," CNI Research CMD Kishore Ostwal said.

For the fiscal 2012-13, the company has lowered its rupee revenue guidance to be 'at least' Rs 39,582 crore (year-on-year growth of 17.3 per cent), from Rs 40,364 crore estimated earlier.

. . .

Last quarter, Infosys had said it is suspending the practice of giving guidance citing 'lack of clarity' in the demand environment, but had revised its forecast for FY'13 to be at least Rs 40,364 crore or Rs 403.64 billion (year-on-year growth of 19.7 per cent).

Considered IT industry bellwether, especially for its practice of providing revenue guidance, Infosys had been struggling to meet its forecast in the last few quarters, experts have said.

. . .

The company said it has increased employee wages, though the details were not available.

Infosys and its subsidiaries added 10,420 employees (gross), while the net addition stood at 2,610, taking the total headcount to 1,53,761 employees as on September 30, 2012.

It added 39 clients during the quarter.

. . .

In dollar terms, the company's net profit stood at $431 million (up 4.8 per cent), while revenues were up 2.9 per cent to $1.79 billion.

The company has maintained its dollar revenue forecast to be at least $7.34 billion (a growth of 5 per cent y-o-y).

This is much lower than Nasscom's growth estimate of 11-14 per cent for the industry in FY 2013.