Infosys tides over economic slowdown

Despite fears of a global economic slowdown on account of the US economy...

Despite fears of a global economic slowdown on account of the US economy and its weakening revenue growth against the appreciating rupee, Indian IT giants Infosys Technologies Ltd hit an optimistic note on the prospects for its IT services business over the last quarter of the financial year.

The company has registered a revenue growth of four per cent for the third quarter of the current fiscal with revenues increasing from Rs 4,106 crore in Q2 to Rs 4,271 crore in Q3. Infosys posted a net profit after tax of Rs 1,231 crore 8211; a 12 per cent increase over the previous quarter. The company has logged year on year revenue and profit growth of 16.9 per cent and 25.2 per cent respectively.

Looking at the fiscal8217;s last quarter, Infosys projected revenues between Rs 4,471 crore and Rs 4,501 crore. The total revenue for 2007-08 has been projected in the range of Rs 16,627 crore and Rs 16,651 crore 8211; an increase of 19.7 to 19.9 per cent over last fiscal year8217;s figures.

Company officials said Infosys is on course to registering profits of one billion dollars for the first time in a fiscal year. Over the past 12 months, the company crossed the 1 billion mark, officials said.

CEO and MD of Infosys Kris Gopalakrishnan reiterated his stand that the prospects for the off shoring business remained bright despite concerns over the macro environment on account of the US slowdown.

8220;There are many drivers sustaining investment in technology. The decrease in IT spending by companies is going to be marginal. Off shoring will continue to grow,8221; the Infosys CEO and MD stated.

8220;We see several opportunities for growth in the marketplace and have concluded several multi-year, multi-million deals during the last quarter. We believe that our ability to handle large, complex programs using the Global Delivery Model provides a compelling value proposition to global customers seeking efficiency in a challenging macro-environment,8221; Kris Gopalakrishnan said.

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He also indicated that the company is developing an India plan targeting the local IT market as part of a strategy for growth and less dependence on the US market. Europe, Japan, Latin America are also being targeted as alternate growth areas, he said.

Playing down concerns over the drying up of business from US banking and financial services on account of sub-prime crisis, senior VP for banking and capital markets Ashok Vemuri said; 8220;The IT spending environment will be favorable to large offshore players like us, even though the macro environment is challenging8221;.

Head of human resource development at Infosys, T V Mohandas Pai, stated that a policy of 8216;right skilling8217; of jobs, where perfect job fits are made for employees, had enabled the company to tide over lingering concerns of a manpower crunch.