Infosys slips on buzz founders may sell stake

Infosys fell 2.50% to Rs 932.35 at 10:08 IST on BSE after a media report suggested that the founders are looking to sell their stake in the IT major.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 85.09 points, or 0.27% to 31,128.27.

On the BSE, 6.82 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with average daily volumes of 2.60 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 942 and a low of Rs 923.05 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,228.90 on 9 June 2016. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 900.30 on 9 November 2016.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 8 June 2017, rising 1.39% compared with 3.19% rise in the Sensex. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 6.25% as against Sensex's 7.83% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one year, falling 19.33% as against Sensex's 16.63% rise.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 1148.47 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.

According to the report, the co-founders of Infosys are exploring a sale of their combined 12.75% stake in the company worth about Rs 28000 crore. This move is said to have been triggered by the promoters' unhappiness over the manner in which the company has been run since their exit three years ago. Instead of a war of attrition with the company's board and management, the promoters appear to have veered around to the view that it might be better to make a complete break from the company they founded in 1981 and listed on the bourses in 1993.

Any stake sale is most likely to take place through stock market block deals, and in tranches, the report added.

Infosys co-founders Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, Kris Gopalakrishnan, SD Shibulal and K Dinesh hold neither executive nor non-executive roles in the company anymore. Still, their exit moves, coming at a time when the sector is facing business uncertainties, could act as an overhang on the stock price, the report said.

Infosys' consolidated net profit fell 2.8% to Rs 3603 crore on 0.9% decline in revenues to Rs 17120 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q3 December 2016.

Infosys is a global leader in technology services and consulting.

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