The country's second-largest software services firm, Infosys, today reported a 21.4% increase in net profit to Rs 2,875 crore in the third quarter ended December 31.
Profit was Rs 2,369 crore in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue rose 25% to Rs 13,026 crore from Rs 10,424 crore, Infosys said in a BSE filing. Analysts had expected profit to increase 13-16% and revenue to climb by 23-26%. "The year ahead looks exciting for the IT services industry. We believe the global economic environment has improved and our clients are gaining confidence to invest in their strategic initiatives," Infosys CEO and Managing Director S D Shibulal said.
The company continues to differentiate itself to seize growth opportunities, he added. "The recent changes in organisational structure will enable us to strengthen client relationships and increase market share," he said.
Infosys raised its revenue growth forecast to 24.4-24.9% for the financial year ending March 31, 2014, from 21-22% estimated earlier. The company's shares gained 1.88% to Rs 3,515.90 in early trade on the BSE.
Infosys had liquid assets, including cash and cash equivalents, available-for-sale financial assets, certificates of deposits and government bonds valued at Rs 27,440 crore as of December 31 against Rs 26,907 crore at the end of September.
In dollar terms, the company's profit grew 6.7% to USD 463 million in the October-December quarter from a year earlier, while revenue rose 9.9% to USD 2.1 billion. Infosys increased its dollar revenue growth guidance for this financial year to 11.5-12% from 9-10% earlier. "During the quarter, we saw early but promising results of our initiatives to increase efficiency in our operations," Infosys Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Bansal said, adding that the company remains focussed on making investments to secure and grow its future.
Though Infosys added 6,682 employees on a gross level in the quarter, the total head count fell by 1,823 from the end of September to 1,58,404. The attrition rate stood at 18.1% on the basis of the last 12 months. It added 54 clients during the reported quarter. The third quarter is traditionally a slow one because of fewer working days.
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