INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Infosys announced a 1:1 bonus issue to mark its 25th year as a public company but continued to forecast industry-lagging growth in a sharp
contrast to the double-digit rise in revenue predicted by rival Tata Consultancy Services.
The Bengaluru-based software services exporter,
once the bellwether of the Indian IT services industry, is being weighed down by the illfated acquisition of Israeli software maker Panaya,
Its profit dropped 6.5% sequentially to $534 million, hit by the Panaya writedown.
In rupee terms, Infosys reported revenue of Rs 19,128
announced on Friday was the eighth since its listing in 1993
The $10.9-billion company is looking to stabilise growth in fiscal 2019, as it seeks to recover from the bruising corporate governance
battle that led to the resignation of then CEO Vishal Sikka last August.
Parekh, who took charge in January, wants to consolidate gains in
across verticals and geographies, is speeding ahead with double-digit growth in dollar revenue for FY19, compared with the 6-8% that Infosys
The National Association of Software and Services Companies expects the industry to grow 7-9% in the current financial year.
Analysts
The industry benchmark on attrition is not 20% right now
It is much lower across the industry
to Rs 270 crore in the first quarter of FY19
An anonymous whistleblower in letters to market regulators suggested that the price paid for Panaya was inflated and there were ethical
irregularities in the deal
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, Infosys announced that it had put Panaya and Skava up for sale and took a Rs 589-crore impairment loss
that business and said the headwinds that had plagued the sector had abated.
The Bengaluru company attributed the decline to some banks
Securities.
Infosys said that about 40% of its $1.1 billion in large deal wins in the quarter were from financial services clients.
