Infosys Q2 profit up 28.6 pc; to issue free shares

Infosys, India's second-largest IT firm, today reported a higher-than-expected 28.6 per cent growth in its second quarter net profit on increased sales and said it will issue bonus share and give dividend to shareholders.
Consolidated net profit in July-September rose to Rs 3,096 crore from Rs 2,407 crore in the year-ago period, the company said.
Infosys said it will give one free share for each share currently held.
Consolidated revenue was up 2.9 per cent to Rs 13,342 crore in Q2.
The company maintained its forecast for full-year sales growth at 7-9 per cent in US dollar terms.
Buoyed by a strong set of numbers, the company declared an interim dividend of Rs 30 per equity share as compared to Rs 20 in the previous year.

"Digital transformation is reshaping the business of every one of our clients. We see this as a great opportunity to help them renew the core of their business as well as to expand into new frontiers and are seeing early positive results," Infosys CEO and Managing Director Vishal Sikka said.
He added that the company's strategy is to apply the same principles to its own business in order to capture this opportunity and accelerate growth.
"We have been able to improve our margins during the quarter and feel confident of sustaining these within a narrow band," Infosys CFO Rajiv Bansal said. "This is giving us increased confidence to make the investments required to meet our growth aspirations.