Infosys puts up stellar Q3 show, revenue growth outlook raised

Country's second largest IT firm Infosys today posted 21.4 per cent jump in profit and raised its annual sales growth forecast for the second straight quarter, signalling a turnaround in its sagging fortunes.
N R Narayana Murthy was brought back from retirement as executive chairman in June 2013 to help revive the company, which was lagging peers like TCS and HCL Technologies in the race to grab outsourcing projects following uptick in demand.
For the quarter ended December 31, Infosys' net profit grew to Rs 2,875 crore compared to Rs 2,369 crore a year ago. Revenue rose 25 per cent to Rs 13,026 crore from Rs 10,424 crore, the Bangalore-based firm said. It raised revenue growth forecast to 24.4-24.9 per cent for the FY'14 fiscal, from 21-22 per cent estimated earlier.

"We are seeing some confidence coming back to our clients but at the same time we expect the budget to be stable from last year to this year. Our clients are very focused on cost optimisation even today," Infosys CEO & MD S D Shibulal said.
In June, Infosys recalled its founder Murthy and returned control of the company that had disappointed investors with poor earnings in the previous nine quarters.
On his tenure with the company, Murthy said: "I have been invited by the board of directors to add value to the company for a term of five years therefore I have to spend every minute of mine to ensure that the company discharges its obligations to every stake holder."

Earlier this month, the IT giant appointed BG Srinivas and UB Pravin Rao as Presidents, and said they will report to CEO SD Shibulal. While Srinivas will focus on global markets, Rao will focus on global delivery & service.

"We have realigned our business portfolio- this is to further enhance our focus on deepening client relationship, increasing market share," Shibulal added.
Operations for the Americas and Europe will be organised by seven industry segments and each of these segments will be led by a segment head.
Shares of the company rose 2.84 per cent to Rs 3,548.90 on the BSE, while the benchmark Sensex climbed 0.22 per cent.

"Positive commentary on revenue growth trajectory citing firmer client budgets...Stability continues to return with improvement in client metrics and lower employee attrition," said Emkay IT analyst Manik Taneja.