Infosys shares tank 9%; mcap plunges Rs 23,459 cr

Infosys forecast a 10.8-12.3 per cent sales growth in the US dollar terms for 2016-17, down from the previous forecast of 11.8-13.8%.

Infosys shares on Friday plunged nearly 9 per cent, wiping out Rs 23,459 crore (Rs 234.59 billion) from its market valuation, after the company's June quarter result failed to enthuse investors following a cut in annual sales forecast.

The stock plummeted by 8.81 per cent to settle at Rs 1,072.25 on BSE. During the day, it tumbled 9.99 per cent to Rs 1,058.30.

On NSE, it tanked 8.81 per cent to end at Rs 1,072.55. Led by the steep fall in the stock, the company's market valuation declined by Rs 23,459.11 crore to Rs 2,46,289.89 crore.

During the day, the stock was the worst performer among the bluechips on both Sensex and Nifty.

On the volume front, 27.11 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 3 crore shares changed hands at NSE during the day.

"Infosys posted numbers lower-than-expected," said Sarabjit Kour Nangra, VP Research- IT, Angel Broking.

"Q1 FY17 has been disappointing but this has come after couple of good quarter," brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher said in a report.

India's second-largest IT company Infosys on Friday reported a 13 per cent jump in its June quarter net profit on new client addition, but cut its annual sales forecast.

Consolidated net profit of Rs 3,436 crore in the April-June quarter was 13.4 per cent higher than Rs 3,028 crore in the same period a year ago.

Infosys forecast a 10.8-12.3 per cent sales growth in the US dollar terms for 2016-17, down from the previous forecast of 11.8-13.8 per cent as companies worldwide rein in IT spending and shift to cloud-based software services.

The full-year revenue guidance to 10.5-12 per cent in constant currency terms is lower than April forecast of 11.5-13.5 per cent.

Industry body Nasscom also had recently lowered its growth forecast for software exports to 10-12 per cent in the year to March 31, 2017, down from 12-14 per cent in 2015-16.

Infosys' consolidated revenue for April-June was up nearly 17 per cent year-on-year at Rs 16,782 crore.

Meanwhile, selling was also seen in other IT stocks, where Hexaware Tech tumbled 3.72 per cent, TCS (3.11 per cent), Wipro (2.81 per cent), Tech Mahindra (2.72 per cent) and HCL Tech (1.44 per cent) on BSE.

Consequently, the BSE IT index fell 5.35 per cent to end at 10,608.40.