Bangalore, April 13 (Inditop.com) Emerging from a year of worst economic slump and technology meltdown, Infosys Technologies Tuesday projected double digit revenue growth for fiscal 2010-11 despite currency volatility and higher wage bill.
India’s second largest IT bellwether said it expected its consolidated income to grow 10 percent on average to Rs.25,017 crore (Rs.250 billion) by this fiscal end (FY 2011) from Rs.22,742 crore (Rs.227 billion) in FY 2010, as per the Indian accounting standard.
Under the International Financial Regulatory System (IFRS), consolidated revenue is projected to grow 17 percent average to $5.6 billion in FY 2011 from $4.8 billion in fiscal 2010.
The revenue guidance is based on the conversion rate of one US dollar at Rs.44.50 on March 31, 2010 and largely on repeat business, which is around 97 percent.
“The currency volatility continues to be a concern for the industry. We, however, have an active hedging programme to minimise its impact on our margins,” Infosys’ chief financial officer V. Balakrishnan said in a statement.
As a clear indication of return to high growth, the company’s consolidated income in the fourth quarter (Jan-March) of fiscal 2009-10 grew 5.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.5,944 crore (Rs.59.44 billion), as per the Indian accounting standard.
“Though the economic environment continues to be challenging, businesses are investing in growth for building a better future,” said Infosys chief executive S. Gopalakrishnan.
For the entire fiscal (FY 2010), consolidated income grew 4.84 percent YoY to Rs.22,742 crore (Rs.227 billion) from Rs.21,693 crore (Rs.217 billion).
“We have been able to take advantage of the opportunities in the market and grow faster due to our investments in capacity and capability building even during the economic downturn,” Gopalakrishnan added.
Under the IFRS, revenue for the quarter under review (Q4) grew 15.6 percent YoY to $1.3 billion and for the entire fiscal (FY 2010) by a modest increase of 3.1 percent YoY to $4.8 billion.
Thought net profit for fiscal 2010 increased modestly to Rs.6,219 crore (Rs.62.19 billion) from Rs.5,975 crore (Rs.59.75 billion), registering 4.1 percent growth YoY, it declined marginally 0.9 percent to Rs.1,600 crore (Rs.16 billion) for the fourth quarter (Q4) from Rs.1,615 crore (Rs.16.15 billion) in the same period year ago.
The net profit for the quarter under review (Q4), however, included Rs.48 crore (Rs.480 million) from the sale of the company’s investment in OnMobile Systems Inc, a leading data and value added services firm for mobile, landline and media service providers worldwide.
Sequentially, net profit grew 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter from Rs.1,559 crore (Rs.15.59 crore) in the third quarter (Oct-Dec).
Excluding the income from the investment sale, net profit for fourth quarter declined by 3.9 percent YoY at Rs.1,552 crore (Rs.15.52 billion).
“We maintained our margins in one of the toughest years for the industry, while our case reserved touched $3.5 billion (Rs.15,857 crore/Rs.159 billion),” V. Balakrishnan noted.
Under the IFRS, net income for entire fiscal grew marginally 2.5 percent YoY to $1.3 billion but modestly 8.7 percent YoY to $349 million in the last quarter.
For the first quarter (April-June) of new fiscal (2010-11), consolidated income is expected to be Rs.5,941 crore (Rs.59.41 billion), projecting average growth of 8.6 percent YoY, as per the Indian accounting standard.
Under the IFRS, revenue for this quarter (Q1) of fiscal 2011 is expected to be $1.34 billion, a projected average growth of 19 percent.
The company added 47 clients during the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY 2010, as against 32 in the third quarter and 37 in the same period year ago.
It proposed to pay a final dividend of Rs.15 per share or 300 percent on par value of Rs.5 per share for fiscal 2009-10.
