Infosys forecasts revenue guidance of 9-10%, remains cautious

The country's second-largest IT company Infosys today posted a 1.6 per cent increase in second-quarter profit and raised its revenue guidance to 9-10 per cent for the fiscal, sending its shares surging.
Consolidated net profit rose to Rs 2,407 crore in the three months ended September 30 from Rs 2,369 crore a year earlier on the back of large deals and increased sales from big data and cloud offerings, the company said in a statement.
Revenue was up 31.5 per cent to Rs 12,965 crore from Rs 9,858 crore in the year-ago period.
Infosys increased the lower-end of its revenue forecast for fiscal 2013-14 to 9-10 per cent from 6-10 per cent projected previously. It revised its rupee revenue guidance for the period upwards to 21-22 per cent from 13-17 per cent.

"We are entering Q3 and Q4. Traditionally, these have been soft quarters for us and we have factored this to our guidance," Infosys CEO and MD S D Shibulal told reporters here.
He said various factors influence guidance, such as deal wins, environmental factors and internal challenges.

"We remain cautious. We have seen volatility in the last eight quarters. In the last quarter, I said that it is not a secular trend yet -- it is too early to declare a secular trend. I believe that it is true even today. With that we remain cautious and kept our guidance 9 to 10 per cent," Shibulal added.

Infosys shares climbed 4.79 per cent to Rs 3,273.90 at the close on the BSE after surging 7.54 per cent to a 52-week high of Rs 3,360.
"The results are reasonably good, not spectacular, for the second quarter," Gartner Research Vice President Ian Marriott said. "I am surprised that they have raised the lower limit of guidance to 9 per cent from 6 per cent as the environment in the coming quarters is challenging," he said.