JOIN USAfter three tough quarters, Indian IT bellwether Infosys Ltd has shown signs of growth by upping its revenue outlook for this fiscal (2012-13) in rupee and dollar terms.
As per the company's revised guidance Friday, revenue is expected to be Rs.40,746 crore (Rs.407 billion) or $7.5 billion as against Rs.39,582 crore (Rs.396 billion) or $7.3 billion projected on Oct 12, 2012.
This translate into 2.9 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in rupee terms and 1.5 percent YoY growth in dollar terms.
The revised revenue, however, includes $104 million (Rs.568 crore) from Lodestone Holding AG, a leading Switzerland-based management consulting business the company acquired in September 2012 for $349 million (Rs.1,932 crore/Rs.19 billion).
Though the global software major reported a flat YoY growth in net profit for the third quarter (October-December) at Rs.2,369 crore (Rs.23.69 billion), its consolidated revenue grew 12 percent YoY and 5.7 percent sequentially to Rs.10,424 crore (Rs.104 billion) in rupee terms.
Under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), net income for the quarter under review (Q3), however, declined 5.2 percent YoY to $434 million from $458 million year ago and marginally less (0.7 percent) sequentially.
Consolidated income rose 5.8 percent YoY to $1.9 billion from $1.8 billion year ago and 6.3 percent sequentially from $1.8 billion.
"We have done well in this (Q3) quarter despite an uncertain environment. We continue to gain confidence from a strong pipeline of large deals," Infosys chief executive S.D. Shibulal said in a statement here. Lodestone contributed $104 million (Rs.214 crore/2.14 billion) for the quarter.
Besides bagging eight large outsourcing deals amounting to $731 million of total contract value, the company secured 14 new wins for its products and platforms.
In spite of the broader economic environment remaining difficult, the blue-chip firm and its subsidiaries worldwide acquired 53 new clients during the quarter, taking the total number of active clients to 776 at the end of December as against 715 quarter ago and 665 year ago.
"We were able to maintain our margins (26 percent) through efficiency improvements despite increased operating expenses. We remain focused on making the right investments for profitable and sustainable growth in the long term," company's new chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal said.
On the human resources front, the company added 7,499 people during the quarter.
With 6,522 techies leaving, the net addition was only 977, taking the total headcount to 155,629 by December-end as against 153,761 quarter ago and 145,088 a year ago.
The company's cash reserves, including liquid assets, however, declined marginally by Rs.69 crore to Rs.22,501 crore by December-end from Rs.22,570 crore quarter ago but up Rs.3,900 crore from Rs.18,601 crore a year ago.
Better than street expectations led the company's scrip of Rs.5 per share to open at Rs.2,507.90 from Thursday's closing of Rs.2,320 and gain a whopping 13.3 percent during the intra-day trading to quote at Rs.2,628.90 Friday afternoon./eom.