Infosys net rises 123%

January 12: Software blue chip Infosys Technologies Ltd has posted a 123 per cent rise in its net profit for the nine-month period ended ...

January 12: Software blue chip Infosys Technologies Ltd has posted a 123 per cent rise in its net profit for the nine-month period ended December 1998. The net profit of the company during the period under review zoomed to Rs 92.16 crore from Rs 41.27 crore registered during the corresponding period last fiscal.

For the quarter ended December 1998, the company posted a net profit of Rs 40.09 crore (Rs 18.24 crore), an increase of 120 per cent. During the quarter, the total income of Infosys was Rs 140.17 crore (Rs 73.36 crore). Fluctuations in the exchange rates, in the quarter, compared with the exchange rates as on March 1998, helped tot up an additional Rs 8.88 crore in income and profit before tax of Rs 3.92 crore.

For the nine months ended December 1998, such exchange rate fluctuations led to an increase in total income of Rs 22.37 crore (Rs 4.77 crore) and profit before tax of Rs 9.32 crore (Rs 2.86 crore).

During the third quarter, the company sold a part of its holding of preferred stock inYantra Corporation resulting in an extraordinary income of Rs 2.35 crore. Infosys also made a provision for its investment in Yantra Corporation of Rs 3.53 crore and Rs 7.06 crore for the current quarter as also the nine month period ended December 31, 1998, as the losses of Yantra Corporation exceeded the company’s contribution to the capital of Yantra.

According to Infosys Technologies chairman and managing director N R Narayana Murthy, the company had instituted a contingency plan to meet any possible disruption in customer support due to the Y2K impact on the technology and communication infrastructure provided to the company by vendors. It has made a provision of Rs 3.33 crore during the current quarter towards such a contingency plan.