The Hindu Business Line : Infy marginally up despite good show

DISAPPOINTED by the forecast from Intel Corp and Citigroup Inc, the US markets declined last week. According to Bloomberg, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell for the fifth week in six; it lost 0.4 per cent last week. The tech-laced Nasdaq Composite Index fell by 2.8 per cent, for its second straight weekly drop. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished marginally higher by 0.1 per cent, thanks to Johnson & Johnson's better than expected financial performance.

The Indian markets were a bit volatile despite strong financial performance from bellwether Infosys and Wipro. For the week ended April 17, the BSE Benchmark 30-share Index registered a marginal gain of 0.4 per cent while the NSE's S&P CNX Nifty inched up 0.8 per cent.

On the ADR front, most of the Indian counters finished on a positive note.

Despite strong numbers from both Infosys and Wipro, both the counters witnessed a divergent trend at the US stock markets.

Infosys Technologies declared a net profit of Rs 337.05 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 compared to a net profit of Rs 259 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2003. For the full year ended March 31, 2003, it announced a net profit of Rs 1,243.47 crore (Rs 957.93 crore). Besides, the company proposed a final dividend of Rs 15 per share (or 300 per cent on an equity share par value Rs 5) and a special one-time dividend of Rs 100 per share (2000 per cent on an equity share par value of Rs 5).Apart from dividend, it also recommended bonus shares in the ratio of 3:1 for equity shareholders. For ADS holders also the company announced a stock dividend in the ratio of 2:1 i.e. one additional ADS for every one existing ADS held by the holders.

Despite all these announcements, Infosys ADS closed at $84.88 against the previous week close of $83.78.

On the other hand, Wipro finished on a firm note at $46.81 ($42.55). The company posted a net profit of Rs 259 crore (Rs 216.2 crore) for the quarter ended March 31, 2004. For the full year, the net profit stood at Rs 914.9 crore (Rs 813.20 crore).

Wipro also recommended bonus shares in the ratio of 2:1 and a final dividend of Rs 4 per share besides a one-time dividend of Rs 25 per share. Satyam Computer, which is scheduled to declare its financial performance on April 22, closed at $21.56 ($21.11).

HDFC Bank, which also announced better-than-expected financial numbers, closed marginally higher at $30.85 ($30.74). The bank posted a net profit of Rs 154.72 crore (Rs 116.62 crore) for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2004.

Its net profit for the full year jumped to Rs 509.5 crore (Rs 387.60 crore) and the bank recommended a dividend of 35 per cent.

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