Infosys Q1 net up 39.23 per cent

Bangalore: Infosys Technologies Ltd has posted a 39.23 per cent growth in net profits and a 38.61 per cent rise in revenues for June quarter in current fiscal, over corresponding last year.

Driven by a robust volume growth and a weakening rupee, Infosys increased its net profit to Rs 388.34 crore on revenues of Rs 1,517.38 crore, as against a net profit of Rs 278.92 crore on revenue of Rs 1,094.70 crore in June quarter last year.

On a sequential basis, the growth in net profits and revenues was 15.84 per cent and 12.44 per cent respectively over previous quarter.

Infosys raised its earnings forecast for the fiscal and second quarter. Infosys projects its income to be between Rs 6,731 crore and Rs 6,772 crore, a growth of 39-40 per cent for FY05.

Earnings per share for the year is expected to be Rs 62.70; a growth of 34 per cent. For Q2 ending September, Infosys projects its income to be between Rs 1,631 crore and 1,645 crore.
Tracking the results and positive guidance the Infosys stock went up marginally by about two per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange to close at Rs 1402.25.

"We have seen strong revenue growth during the quarter," said Nandan Nilekani, CEO, president and managing director at a press conference announcing the results. "Our robust and scaleable business model, along with our track record of superior execution has enabled us to respond quickly to enhanced business opportunities in the market place," he said.

Infosys added 29 new clients during the quarter to take its active client base to 419. The company added 2,305 employees to increase its overall headcount to 27,939.

"Demand for offshore outsourcing continues to be robust as client companies are focussing on growth," Nilekani said. Infosys witnessed growth in all the segments going beyond the classical verticals such as financial services and telecom, into areas such as retail, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and energy and utilities among others, he added. "We are well on our way in terms of the transformation we want to do in the post billion dollar phase," Mr Nilekani said.

"We continue to see a stable pricing environment going forward," said S. Gopalakrishnan, Chief Operating Officer.