UPDATE 1-Infosys Q2 profit up, cuts revenue outlook
* Cuts FY12 dollar revenue growth to 17.1 pct to 19.1 pct
(Adds details)BANGALORE, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd , India’s
No. 2 software services exporter, met forecasts with a
9.7-percent rise in second-quarter profit as a weak rupee
boosted margins, but it cut its full-year revenue outlook and
warned about global economic uncertainty .Infosys, which counts Goldman Sachs , BT
Group and BP among its main clients, cut its
dollar revenue growth forecast to 17.1 percent to 19.1 percent
for the fiscal year, from 18 percent to 20 percent projected
earlier.”The global macroeconomic environment is still uncertain. It
is and should be a concern for the IT industry,” S.D. Shibulal,
chief executive officer of Infosys, said in a statement.India’s $76 billion showpiece IT sector, which feeds off
increased outsourcing by companies looking to cut costs, is
expected to face pricing pressure and a decline in new orders as
Europe struggles with a debt crisis and the United States sees
an economic slowdown.More than half of Bangalore-based Infosys’ revenue is
generated in the United States. Europe is its second largest
market.Infosys, also listed in New York, said on Wednesday
consolidated net profit rose to 19.06 billion rupees
($387 million) for the fiscal second quarter ended
September 30, from 17.37 billion rupees reported a year ago.Revenue rose 16.6 percent to 80.99 billion rupees, as the
firm added 45 clients in the quarter.A Reuters poll of brokerages had forecast a profit of 18.91
billion rupees on revenue of 81.20 billion rupees for the
company, which counts Goldman Sachs , BT Group and
BP among its main clients.Infosys shares rose more than 5 percent folling the news on
Wednesday, touching 2630.20 rupees a share.”The results have been helped partly by the depreciation in
the rupee. The main thing to watch out for will be how the U.S.
and Europe will move in the coming months,” said R.K. Gupta,
Managing Director at Taurus Asset Management.”But Indian IT companies and Infosys in particular have a
cost advantage over their global peers. I am not very
pessimistic on these companies,” he said.Infosys, worth about $29 billion, has lost more than a
quarter of its market value this year, roughly in line with a 25
percent fall in the sector index , but higher than a 19
percent decline in the Mumbai market index .
($1 = 49.3 rupees)
