The Hindu Business Line : Infosys net profit up 28 pc in third quarter

INFOSYS Technologies Ltd today reported a 28 per cent rise in its net profits for the third quarter ending December 31, 2003, while its revenues grew by 28.9 per cent over the corresponding period last year, beating street expectations.

Infosys, which added 30 new clients during the quarter, hiked its earnings guidance yet again for the full fiscal on the back of strong outsourcing deals.

Net profits for Q3 stood at Rs 328.14 crore on revenues of Rs 1,235.26 crore as against a net of Rs 256.31 crore on revenues of Rs 958.64 crore in the corresponding fiscal last year.

On a sequential basis, net profits and revenues grew by 9.3 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively during Q3 over last quarter.

Infosys expects its consolidated income for the current fiscal to be between Rs 4,823 crore and Rs 4,835 crore. The earnings per share is projected to be Rs 186.70 for the group. Infosys shares closed 0.5 per cent down on the Bombay Stock Exchange after soaring close to 5 per cent intra-day nearing its three-year high.

"It was banner quarter in term of employee addition," said Mr Nandan Nilekani, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Infosys added some 3,179 employees on a gross basis with net addition being 2,689. The period end headcount stood at 21,809 with employee utilisation rates at 73.1 per cent, a marginal decline over last quarter, even as the attrition rate hovered around 10 per cent. The company plans to hire 1,500 employees in the current quarter, with 20 per cent experienced and 80 per cent freshers.

Despite such aggressive hiring, the company managed to maintain its net margins at 26.6 per cent.

The quarter saw steady pricing and shift towards offshore efforts, Mr Nilekani said. Revenues from offshore grew during the quarter and accounted for 46.6 per cent of the overall revenues.

The company's business process outsourcing subsidiary, Progeon, added a new client during the quarter and reported revenue of Rs 21.78 crore. It hired 362 employees during the quarter with overall headcount touching 1,400. "The pipeline looks very robust," the company's CEO, Mr Akshaya Bhargava, said.

Infosys incorporated its wholly-owned subsidiary in China — Infosys Technologies (Shanghai) Co Ltd. The company maintained its plan to invest $5 million and hire 200 professionals for its Chinese development centre. This centre aims to be a hub for software services for business in Asia-Pacific region.

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