By IANS,
Bangalore : Infosys Technologies Ltd posted a net profit of Rs.13.02 billion for the first quarter this fiscal, registering a 21 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth from the Rs.10.8 billion posted last fiscal.
As against a flat growth projection of Rs.45.7 billion for the quarter, the information technology (IT) bellwether posted consolidated revenue of Rs.48.54 billion, registering a 29 percent YoY growth under Indian accounting practice.
Sequentially, net profit rose by 4.2 percent and revenue by seven percent from the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Under the US accounting practice, net income for the quarter rose 16 percent to $306 million from $263 million in the corresponding period the previous year, while consolidated income rose 25 percent to $1.16 billion.
The stronger growth has also prompted the global software major to revise upwards its revenue guidance for this fiscal to Rs.216 billion from the Rs.202 billion projected earlier under the Indian accounting practice.
Growth is expected to be 30 percent higher YoY over the last fiscal (FY 2008).
For the second quarter this fiscal, consolidated income is expected to be Rs.52.7 billion, projecting a 28 percent YoY growth under Indian accounting practice.
“Though margins were impacted due to increases in salary and visa costs, a weaker rupee, which depreciated to Rs.43 from Rs.40 during the quarter, offset the impact,” Infosys chief financial officer V. Balakrishnan said in a statement.
Under US accounting practice, the company has, however, maintained the revenue guidance of $5.05 billion for the entire fiscal, as projected in April, in spite of the dollar appreciating by seven percent during the first quarter.
“The currency market, however, is expected to remain volatile in the short-term,” Balakrishnan added.
Net income for the first quarters this year and the last fiscal includes tax reversal of Rs.510 million and Rs.310 million.
Earnings per share (EPS) increased to Rs.22.75 for the first quarter from Rs.18.89 in the corresponding period a year ago, registering a growth of 20.4 percent YoY.
“Although the global economic environment continues to remain uncertain and could impact IT spending in the short-term, we see several opportunities for growth as customers focus on improving efficiency,” chief executive officer and managing director S. Gopalakrishnan said.
Contrary to fears that slowdown globally and the US would impact outsourcing and offshoring of IT services, the company and its subsidiaries added 49 new clients during the quarter, taking the total number of active clients to 567.
“The pricing environment continued to remain stable during the quarter,” chief operating officer S.D. Shibulal said.
The company and its subsidiaries added 7,182 people to their staff strength during the quarter, taking the number of employees to 94,379 despite losing 3,990 people at the same time.