Analysts' corner

INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
Reco price: Rs 2,792;
Target price: Rs 3,400
Infosys management views the weak March quarter more as an anomaly than a structural indicator of demand and relative positioning. We see Infosys' margin guidance as conservative and embedding the worst case. Its strong order backlog and deal pipeline provide high revenue growth visibility in FY12. The stock is down about 20 per cent YTD; we recommend buying aggressively with a price target of Rs 3,400 (20x FY13E EPS). The management reiterated that macro uncertainty remains the key impediment to fundamentals. Though budgets are up 2-3 per cent for CY11, they are getting re-evaluated every quarter and as such do not provide visibility around demand.

— Motilal Oswal Securities

ABAN OFFSHORE
Reco price: Rs 561;
Target price: Rs 511
Aban Offshore (Aban) has reported encouraging results in Q4FY11 with a rise in both the top line and bottom line Q-o-Q by 15.5 per cent (Rs 899 crore) and 144.6 per cent (Rs 152 crore), respectively. The improvement in operating performance can be attributed to full deployment of its fleet on long-term charter contracts in Q4FY11. Analysts expect the encouraging performance to continue in FY12 with 4 times increase in net profit in the absence of an extraordinary loss of Rs 467 crore in FY11. However, analysts are cautious on account of significant headwinds, the foremost being the repayment of Rs 3,300 crore of debt in FY12.

— ICICI Securities