Infosys Q3 results up 14.2pc, cautious of macro environment

Bangalore, Jan 13 (PTI) In a performance below marketexpectation, IT major Infosys today posted 14.2 per centgrowth in profit at Rs 1,780 crore for the third quarter, butthe company said it has "done well on all parameters".

The NASDAQ-listed company raised outlook for the January-March period and whole of current financial year based onexpected demand on new services and its revenue growth.

The company registered revenues of Rs 7,106 crore for theOctober-December quarter, a 23.8 per cent growth year-on-year.

"The company saw an all round good performance," InfosysCEO and MD S Gopalakrishnan told reporters here.

The company''s performance had exceeded its guidance,volumes had gone up, attrition had come down. There had been astrong employee addition and client addition. "We have donewell on all parameters," he said.

The country''s second largest software exporter added 40clients during the quarter. It saw a gross addition of 11,067employees and a net addition of 5,311.

On project size, he said, they were getting smaller andof shorter duration, given the fact that most of the ITbudgets had been spent in the first two quarters.

In the next year, it expected budgets to be slightly up.

"We expect discretionary spend to pick up," he said.

"Next year could be a normal year for the IT service," hesaid but was quick to express some concern on the macroeconomic situation.

"The weaker economic recovery in developed marketscoupled with high unemployment and risk of sovereign defaultcould impact the industry growth," he said.

"Recovery is happening, industry is benefitting, but itis still possible something bad could happen. We need to becautious ... In case something bad happens, it could have adomino effect. The consequences are unpredictable," he said.

Infosys shares were battered on the Bombay Stock Exchangetoday after the earning figures were released and lost nearlyfive per cent at Rs 3,212.30. I

Market players viewed the result as not-so-good and thecompany''s Q4 revenue outlook failed to enthuse investors.

"Infosys Q3 results came in behind expectations withmuted volume growth of 3 per cent Q-o-Q being the keydampener. The conservative management commentary and flattishQ4 growth guidance was also not encouraging," IIFL AVPResearch Rajiv Mehta said.

For the quarter ending March 31, 2011, Infosys expectedrevenues to be in the range of Rs 7,157-7,230 crore, a growthof 20.4 per cent to 21.6 per cent year-on-year.

For the 2010-11 fiscal, the company expected revenues tobe in the range of Rs 27,408-27,481 crore, a growth of 20.5per cent to 20.8 per cent year-on-year.