Infosys Technologies, the Bangalore-based software company, has recommended a 1:1 bonus issue and an increase in the foreign institutional investors (FII) limit from 24 to 30 per cent.
The company also declared its 1196-97 results yesterday. It showed a 57 per cent rise in total income and a 76 per cent jump in net profit. Operating profit rose from Rs 33.95 crore to Rs 50.06 crore.
Profitability was helped by extraordinary income of Rs 3.6 crore from the transfer of its product WMS Yantra, a distribution software to its subsidiary Yantra Corporation.
Without this amount, profits would have been lower at Rs 33.38 crore.
The company has declared a final dividend of 40 per cent, taking the total dividend for the year to 55 per cent against 50 per cent last year.
Infosys is the second company to clear a hike in FII investment from 24 to 30 per cent. Mastek Ltd was the first one to do so.
Infosys will seek the shareholders permission on June 7.
In the 1997-98 budget, finance minister P Chidambaram had allowed FIIs to hike their stake in individual companies from 24 to 30 per cent.
The Infosys scrip, which had been attracting buying interest since the budget, had jumped from Rs 1007 in March 31 to over Rs 1,200 on April 7.
The results show that performance in the second half of the year had slowed down. Total export income in the first-half touched Rs 73.72 crore, while in the second-half it rose only by Rs 51.56 crore.
Net profit rose by Rs 22.87 crore in the first-half, but by only Rs 14.11 crore in the second-half. Export income rose from Rs 80.34 crore in 1995-96 to Rs 125.28 crore in 1996-97, while domestic income touched Rs 13.94 crore from Rs 8.21 crore earlier. The company paid interest of Rs 61 lakh and depreciation rose to Rs 10.52 crore from Rs 8.63 crore.
Tax provision also rose from Rs 4.31 crore to Rs 5.54 crore.
