Infosys Q4 revenue falls QoQ 1st time in decade

Infosys Technologies Ltd has reported first ever sequential fall in its revenue in a decade during the March 2009 quarter. Its operating margin is also under pressure as general and administrative expenses rose despite falling revenue.

The company’s revenue and net profit were more or less in line with the estimates of ET Intelligence Group (ETIG). It reported Rs 5,635 crore in revenue and Rs 1,613 crore in net profit. ETIG had estimated sales of Rs 5,684 crore and PAT of Rs 1,579 crore.

Infosys witnessed over 2% drop in its blended pricing on a sequential basis during the March quarter. It also lost four clients and reported 90 basis points (bps) fall in its employee utilisation including trainees.

Operating margin shrank by 154 bps to 33.5% from the previous quarter. However, net margin expanded by 26 bps to 28.6% thanks to the other income of Rs 252 crore.

The company’s European business suffered a drop of 12.5% sequentially due to beleaguered telecom, manufacturing, and financial sectors.

Its North American business could grow by just over a per cent despite slowdown in the US economy. Among its verticals, manufacturing revenue fell by 6% whereas telecom dropped by 15.3%.

Infosys has guided for a sluggish performance in FY10. It expects earnings per share (EPS) to skid by 3.3-7.6% to Rs 96.65-Rs 101.18. Revenue
is likely to be more or less flat between Rs 22,066 crore and Rs 22,928 crore, a growth of 1.7-5.7%. - Economic Times.