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Infosys Q1 net up 50 pc -- Annual growth estimate retained at 30 pc

Our Bureau

BANGALORE, July 10

IN the season of slowdowns, software major Infosys Technologies has posted a fair top and bottomline growth for the quarter ended June 30, 2001.

The company has reported a net profit of Rs 190.03 crore on a total income of Rs 626.01 crore for Q1 2001-02 over the corresponding previous quarter's net of Rs 121.30 crore on a income of Rs 370.64 crore.

This represents an increase of 49.88 per cent in net profits and 68.90 per cent in total income over the corresponding period previous year. However, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the growth is marginal at 4.6 per cent in net profits and 9.43 per cent i n total income, when compared to the previous quarter.

The basic earnings per share (EPS) from ordinary activities increased to Rs 28.72 from Rs 19.17 in the corresponding quarter previous year. The company added some 315 employees during the quarter, including a lateral hire of 102 with the net addition of 116 employees.

Commenting on the performance, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and CEO, Infosys, said the quarter was comfortable as the company has exceeded both in terms of topline and bottomline growth.

``There has been price pressure and we are alive to what's happening in the market place. We are continuously sensing what's happening out there in the field and based on the inputs that we have at our disposal -- we believe that the market continues to be challenging,'' Mr Murthy said.

Attributing the pressure on the pricing front to the pressures faced by the customers themselves in the prevailing economic environment, Mr Murthy said that the company in a bid to overcome these price pressures, was looking at increasing volumes.

``After looking at all the myriad parameters like marketplace, price pressure and our analysis, we should retain our original growth estimate for 2001-02 at 30 per cent,'' he added.

While exports registered an increase of 70 per cent from Rs 351.06 crore in the first quarter of 2000-01 to Rs 596.30 crore in the Q1 2001-02, the operating profits went up by 66 per cent from Rs 152.75 crore to Rs 254.01 crore.

Total expenditure went up by some 70.73 per cent to Rs 372 crore from Rs 217.89 crore. Free cash flows stood at Rs 52.78 crore in spite of the capital expenditure of Rs 101.74 crore.

In its outlook for the quarter ending September 2001, the company expects a total income of Rs 625-640 crore and an EPS of Rs 28-29. For the fiscal ending March 2002, the company is looking at a total income of Rs 2,500-2,560 crore with an EPS in the ran ge of Rs 118-121.

The company added some 26 new clients during the quarter, some prominent names being APL, a global container transportation and logistics services provider; Pinnacle West Capital Corporation; GreenPoint Mortgage in financial services; Valeo, an automativ e equipment supplier; and Airbus among others. The company also opened a marketing office in Singapore during the quarter.

Infosys announced the results before the start of trading on Tuesday. Its shares hit an intra-day high of Rs 3,650, but closed at Rs 3,494.85 on the BSE (Monday's close: Rs 3,519.65).

Pic.: The Infosys Chairman, Mr N.R. Narayanamurthy, and the Managing Director, President and Chief Operating Officer, Mr Nandan Nilekani, at a press conference to announce its first quarter results in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Picture by G.R.N. Somashekar