Infosys q-o-q profit rises 19.4%

Infosys Ltd, India's second-largest software services exporter, posted a 19.4 per cent rise in quarter-on-quarter net profit, as stronger economic growth in Europe and the United States revived demand for outsourcing services.

Year-on-year profits were up 21 per cent.

Infosys, whose customers include Bank of America Corp and BT Group Plc, said profit for the three months ended December 31 was Rs 2,875 crore ($463 million), compared with Rs 2,369 crore (Rs 23.69 billion) a year earlier.

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"We believe the global economic environment has improved and our clients are gaining confidence to invest in their strategic initiatives," Chief Executive SD Shibulal said in a statement announcing fiscal third-quarter earnings.

Infosys raised it revenue growth outlook for the year ending March 2014 to 11.5 to 12 per cent, compared with it previous forecast of a 9-10 per cent rise.

Investors has raised concerns about the company's prospects after several high-profile executives left in the last six months after the company's founder, N.R. Narayana Murthy, returned in June last year to lead the turnaround.

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Infosys is a bellwether of India's export-driven $108 billion IT outsourcing industry. Worldwide IT spending growth is expected to accelerate to more than 5 per cent in 2014 after dipping last year to its slowest pace of growth since the financial crisis, according the International Data Corporation.

The company’s year-on-year revenues were up 25 per cent. In the quarter ended Dec 31, revenues were Rs 13,026 crore (Rs 130.26 billion) as compared to Rs 10,424 crore (Rs 104.24 billion) last year.

Earnings per share (EPS) was Rs 50.32 for the quarter ended December 31. The company holds liquid assets including cash and cash equivalents of Rs 27,440 crore as on December 31, 2013 versus Rs 26,907 crore as on September 30, 2013.

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In December quarter, the company added 54 and 6,682 employees, The total employee strength of Infy stands at 158,404.

The company also said that U.B. Pravin Rao, Infosys’ president, has been appointed as an Additional and Whole-time Director.

Biocon Chairman & Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw will join as an Additional (Independent) Director in place of David Boyles, who will retire on Jan 17.

With inputs from Reuters