Infosys aims to double Europe sales in 3 years

India’s No 2 software services exporter, Infosys, aims to double the revenue share from Europe to 40% of its total sales by the end of its 2014 financial year, as cost-strapped global companies step up outsourcing.

The Bangalore-based company, a pioneer in India’s $76-billion IT sector, has grown rapidly by employing thousands of engineers in low-cost Indian centres and catering to overseas firms, mainly based in the United States.

“Our target is by 2014, our business will be 40% from Americas, 40% from Europe and 20% from Asia,” Ashok Vemuri, head of Americas and member of the company’s board, said in an interview at Infosys’ office in Singapore.

Vemuri heads Infosys’ financial services and insurance business, which accounts for about a third of Infosys’ revenue. The firm employs more than 140,000 staff and aims to add a total of 45,000 people globally this year.

Valued at nearly $32 billion, Infosys competes with top ranked Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and global firms, including IBM and Accenture, for large IT outsourcing deals.

Vemuri said companies in Europe were taking a longer time to decide on IT services contracts due to the eurozone debt worries, but the long-term outsourcing trend was intact.

“Today, unlike in the past, they are looking over their shoulder. They are saying, ‘let me get one more approval from my boss. They want to throw this to the top of the house’”.

Europe is the second-largest market for India’s software firms, which have been looking to increase their sales to the region to hedge against their exposure to the United States that accounts for more than half their sales.

Infosys’s revenue jumped nearly 20% to $3.4 billion in the six months ended September 30. Vemuri said the company is still expanding in continental Europe.

“Amidst all this uncertainty and chaos, there are significant opportunities,” said the former investment banker who joined Infosys in 1999.

Infosys earned 65.3% of its revenue in the second quarter from the United States versus 65.8% from a year ago while Europe accounted for 20.5% of its revenue, down from 21.8% a year ago.

The firm, which counts Goldman Sachs and BT among its main clients, reported a 9.7% rise in quarterly profit last week, and cut its full-year sales outlook by less-than-expected, easing market worries of a sharp slowdown.

Vemuri was confident about the prospects for Infosys’ main financial customers. “There are no budget cuts, no project cuts,” he said. “Most companies in the Fortune 500 are using technology to dig themselves out of the hole with increasing automation.” Infosys shares have fallen about 20% this year versus a 16% fall in the broader market index .

 Vemuri said Infosys sees Asia, which contributes around 12% of its revenue, as a region where the next big wave in technology spending will take place.