Infosys Q2 Net up 1.6%; revenue guidance still conservative

Infosys, India's second largest software services exporter, today reported lower than expected 1.6 per cent rise in September quarter net profit, but raised the low-end of its sales forecast for the full fiscal.
Consolidated net profit rose 1.6 per cent to Rs 2,407 crore in July-September this fiscal from Rs 2,396 crore a year ago on a charge related to visa use in the US, Infosys said in a statement.
The city-headquartered firm raised the lower-end of its revenue forecast for the 2013-14 fiscal to 9-10 per cent from previously projected 6-10 per cent. It also revised its rupee revenue guidance upwards to 21-22 per cent from 13-17 per cent earlier for the same period.

Infosys, which has been under investigation in the US over the past use of temporary employment visas, said it has made a provision of about Rs 219 crore in the matter.
July-September is the first full quarter since co-founder N R Narayana Murthy came out of retirement to become executive chairman as Infosys posted almost two years of disappointing earnings.
Reacting to the results, shares of Infosys' -- once considered an IT industry bellwether -- jumped 7.54 per cent to Rs 3,360, its 52-week high on the BSE.

Commenting of the performance, Infosys CEO and Managing Director S D Shibulal said: The growth in second quarter was broad-based and the net client additions (37) was among the highest in the company's history, which included five of the Fortune 500 companies."

In dollar terms, however, the NYSE-listed firm's profits fell 11.1 per cent to USD 383 million in September quarter of this fiscal from USD 431 million in the year-ago period. Its revenues rose by 15 per cent to USD 2.07 billion from USD 1.80 billion during the review period.
Infosys CFO Rajiv Bansal said: "The impact of 300 basis points on margins due to wage hikes was to an extent met by rupee depreciation helping margins by 250 basis points.