Infosys retains revenue growth guidance after 10 percent profit jump

(Reuters) - India's second-largest software services exporter Infosys posted better than expected second-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by a rise in big deals, and reiterated its forecast for full-year revenue growth.

Having lifted its number of $100 million-plus clients to 23, compared with 19 in the same quarter last year, Infosys retained guidance for full-year revenue growth of 6-8 percent in constant currency terms, in line with broker expectations.

"Large deal wins at over $2 billion during the quarter demonstrate our increased client relevance and also give us better growth visibility for the near term," said CEO Salil Parekh.

The Bengaluru-headquartered company added 7,834 employees on a net basis, compared with a reduction in the same period last year.

Profit rose 10.3 percent to 41.10 billion rupees ($558.04 million) in the quarter to Sept. 30, beating analyst estimates of 40.51 billion rupees, according to I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv.

Bigger rival Tata Consultancy services posted a record net profit last week and forecast double-digit revenue growth this financial year, driven by strong demand for digital services and healthy spending by key clients.

Shares in Infosys ended 0.5 percent down ahead of the results in a broader Mumbai market up 0.7 percent.

($1 = 73.6500 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup and Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by David Goodman)