Infosys shares rise 2% on launching JV with Telstra; stock details here

Infosys shares rose nearly 2 per cent after it announced a joint venture with Telstra, where it will invest around ₹1,300 crore

Shares of Infosys rose nearly 2 per cent on Thursday after it announced a joint venture with Telstra, Australia's leading telecommunications and technology company. 

 

The IT giant's stock rose as much as 1.82 per cent during the day to ₹1,452.5 per share, the biggest intraday rise since July 15 this year. The stock pared gains to trade 1.6 per cent higher at ₹1,450 apiece, compared to a 0.02 per cent advance in Nifty 50 as of 10:05 AM. 

 

Shares of the company rose for the second straight session and currently trade at over 2.5 times the average 30-day trading volume, according to Bloomberg. The counter has fallen 23.36 per cent this year, compared to a 4.2 per cent advance in the benchmark Nifty 50. Infosys has a total market capitalisation of ₹6.02 trillion.   Track LIVE Stock Market Updates Here

Infosys sets up JV with Telstra

Infosys will acquire 75 per cent of the shareholding in the Versent group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Telstra group, that delivers cloud and digital transformation. Infosys is investing Australian dollar 233.25 million (around ₹1,300 crore) in the JV.

 

The IT services major will have operational control, while Telstra will continue to retain the remaining 25 per cent minority stake in the Versent group.

 

The formation of the JV will accelerate Infosys’ strategy to help clients navigate their AI journey, and this collaboration will propel AI-enabled cloud and digital solutions for Australian businesses, the company said.

 

Salil Parekh, chief executive officer (CEO), Infosys, said: “We are excited to bring Infosys Topaz to enable transformative AI-first capabilities to complement Versent Group's cloud-first digital foundation. Expanding our trusted collaboration with Telstra, with whom we share a valued relationship, unveils a new opportunity to further accelerate the innovation agenda for enterprises across the region.” 

Nomura on Infosys-Telstra JV

The deal strengthens Infosys's partnership with Telstra, which is a key account for the company in its telecommunications vertical, analysts at Nomura said. 

 

In the past two years, Infosys has announced key deals with Telstra. The collaboration should help strengthen Infosys's business presence in Australia and help it target more private and government customers in the country, the report said. The brokerage retained its 'Buy' rating with a target price of ₹1,880 per share.  

Infosys Q1 results

The net profit of Bengaluru-based company came in at ₹6,921 crore, marking a sequential decline of 1.6 per cent. The top line grew 3.3 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis to ₹42,279 crore. Both the numbers beat Bloomberg estimates, where analysts had estimated a net profit of ₹6,778 crore and revenue of ₹41,724 crore.

 

The second-largest software-services provider raised the lower end of its guidance to 1 per cent from nil growth it had guided a quarter earlier. A quarter of strong deal wins worth $3.8 billion helped the company raise the guidance at the lower end, Chief Financial Officer Jayesh Sanghrajka said.