INFOSYS NET RISES 16.7% TO 1737 CRORES

Infosys set the tone for the results season by coming up with strong numbers on Friday. It reported a better-than-expected net profit of Rs. 1,737 crore in the second quarter, a 16.7 per cent rise from its first quarter net of Rs. 1,488 crore, buoyed by an increase in orders.

As compared with the same quarter of the previous year, it net profit posted a 13.2 per cent growth.Its revenues in the quarter ended September 30, 2010, rose to Rs. 6,947 crore, a growth of 12.1 per cent as compared to the first quarter.

"Though the economic environment continues to be challenging, we have leveraged our client relationships, solutions and investments to grow faster in this quarter," said S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO and managing director.

Infosys said that 27 clients were added during the quarter by the company and its subsidiaries and there was a net addition of 7,646 employees during for the quarter. As on September 30, 2010, Infosys and its subsidiaries had 1,22,468 employees.

"We have seen record hiring this quarter and attrition has decreased," said TV Mohandas Pai, member of the board and head – HRD and education & research. "Our new career architecture is showing positive results."

Despite its strong numbers, Infosys shares had moved lower in early trade on Friday. Infosys shares were down nearly 1 per cent. "Though Infosys numbers were better than expectations, it was not a blow-out performance. Most of it was factored in its price so the stock has seen some profit-taking," said Ambareesh Baliga, VP, Karvy Stock Broking. 

An NDTV poll of analysts expected Infosys to post a 16 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth in its net profit for the second quarter. The analyst expect Infosys to post a net profit of Rs. 1,726.15 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal as compared to Rs. 1,488 crore reported in the first quarter of this fiscal.
 

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/section/earnings/news/infosys-net-profit-rises-16-7-to-rs-1-737-crore-108306?cp