Infosys raises revenue guidance, net up at Rs 2,407 crore

IT major Infosys on Friday reported a 1.6 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,407 crore (Rs 24.07 billion) for the second quarter ended September 30, 2013, on the back of large deals and increased sales from Big Data and Cloud.

The Bangalore-based firm had reported a net profit of Rs 2,369 crore (Rs 23.69 billion) in the year-ago period, it said in a BSE filing. The consolidated revenue was up 31.5 per cent to Rs 12,965 crore (Rs 129.65 billion) from Rs 9,858 crore (Rs 98.58 billion) in the year-ago period.

Reacting to the results, Infosys' shares opened 7 per cent higher at Rs 3,360 from the previous close on the BSE. They later fell to Rs 3,220 apiece, still up by 3.07 per cent from its previous close.

India's second-largest software services exporter, which had kept its US dollar revenue guidance unchanged after the first quarter results, revised it upwards to 9-10 per cent for the 2013-14 fiscal from 6-10 per cent earlier.

It also revised rupee revenue guidance to 21-22 per cent for the 2013-14 fiscal from 13-17 per cent earlier.

In dollar terms, however, the NYSE-listed firm's net profits fell by 11.1 per cent to $383 million in second quarter of this fiscal from $431 million in the year-ago period.

Revenues rose by 15 per cent to $2.07 billion in the July-September quarter of 2013-14 fiscal from $1.80 billion in the same quarter of 2012-13 fiscal.

The company, which saw return of co-founder N R Narayana Murthy in June in the backdrop of lower-than-expected performance in previous quarters, had earlier said that wage hikes announced in June 2013 would have an impact of about 3 per cent on its margins in the July-September quarter.

"During the quarter, we witnessed broad-based volume growth, robust client additions, five large deal wins and increased sales momentum of our big data and cloud offerings.

This growth is a result of our focus on execution, which helps our clients achieve their objectives," Infosys CEO and Managing Director S D Shibulal said. 

In the April-June quarter this fiscal, Infosys reported a net profit of Rs 2,374 crore (Rs 23.74 billion) and a revenue of Rs 11,267 crore (Rs 112.67 billion).

"We will continue with planned investments and initiatives to explore new avenues of growth. We remain watchful of the sustainability of improving global economic fundamentals," Shibulal said.

During the July-September quarter, Infosys and its subsidiaries added 68 clients taking the total count to 873.

"The global currency market remains volatile with the Indian Rupee depreciating by 11 per cent during the quarter. We have an active hedging programme to minimise its impact on our margins," Infosys CFO Rajiv Bansal said.

The company will continue its focus on optimising costs and enhancing the efficiency of its operations, he added.

On Cloud and Big Data, Infosys said: "We are building momentum in the market with our Cloud and Big Data offerings. Last quarter, we won over 15 new projects with clients in these segments. We are a leader in Cloud services with more than 4,500 Cloud experts, 200 engagements and 35 partners."

The company made a gross addition of 12,168 employees (net addition of 2,964) for the quarter and had a total headcount of 160,227 as of September 30, 2013.