By IANS
Bangalore : Kris Gopalakrishnan, a founder-member of Infosys Technologies Ltd, Friday succeeded Nandan M. Nilekani as the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director of the IT bellwether.
The shareholders unanimously endorsed a special resolution, moved at the 26th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company here, appointing Gopalakrishnan as the new CEO and Nilekani as the co-chairman of the board.
Infosys chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy will continue to be the non-executive chairman of the company.
Addressing the shareholders, Murthy said after a successful tenure of five years as the CEO, Nilekani had followed the Infosys tradition and voluntarily passed on the baton to Gopalakrishnan, a worthy successor chosen by the board.
"Krish is a gentle but firm, consultative yet decisive and thoughtful, yet action-oriented. Shibulal, who takes over as the new chief operating officer (COO), is smart, focused, and result-oriented. He makes an ideal COO.
"Nandan will assist Krish, focus on client relationships, be a brand ambassador and contribute to Infosys' strategy. These transitions reinforce the efficacy of our long-term succession planning," Murthy said.
Giving an account of the company's outstanding performance during the fiscal 2006-07, Murthy said the year-on-year growth exceeded the initial guidance. In revenue terms, the growth was 46 percent (Rs.132 billion). Net profit grew by 52 percent to Rs.38 billion under the Indian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Under the US GAAP, revenues grew by 44 percent and net income by 53 percent.
"When Infosys was set up 26 years ago, our vision was to build a globally-respected, professional organisation, creating wealth legally and ethically. We faced several challenges, but we struggled, worked hard, persisted and built the organisation, never compromising on our value system.
"This has enabled us to remain true to our core identity, even while stimulating change and growth in every business parameter. We started as a team of seven. Today, Infosys, with its subsidiaries, is a diverse team of over 72,200 professionals of 65 nationalities," Murthy told the shareholders.
In response to a shareholder's query, Gopalakrishnan said the company's headcount may touch 100,000 by the end of this fiscal (2007-08), with a projected gross addition of over 24,500 people.
"In the last fiscal (FY 2007), we added 30,946 employees as against our original plan to hire about 25,000 people. With 13.7 percent attrition during the year, the net employee addition was 19,526 people," he recalled.
On the company's prospects, Murthy said the future success depended upon its ability to manage rapid growth. He hoped with vital ingredients in place to mange growth — strong leadership, best-in-class talent, mature processes, integrated systems and world class technology, physical infrastructure and a strong value systems, the company would continue to accelerate growth in the years to come.
"Managing risk is an inherent part of our corporate strategy. Geographical diversification into Asia and Europe has been a cornerstone of our mitigation strategy. European business continued to be strong and contributed 26.4 percent of total revenues," Murthy added.
During the fiscal under review (FY 2007), the company was on target to earn a ROCE (return on capital employed) of 46 percent, which is twice the cost of capital (Rs.140.97 million) and a ROIC (return on invested capital) of 89 percent, which is more than thrice of the cost of capital.