Infy revenue guidance below Nasscom estimates

Infosys on Friday projected a 6-10 per cent growth in dollar revenue for the current fiscal. The firms muted revenue guidance lower than even industry body Nasscoms projection of 12-14 per cent for the industry came even as the company missed its growth target for the year ended March,completing a miserable set of numbers for the IT major during the March quarter as well as the full financial year.

Infosys posted a mere 3.4 per cent rise in net profit year-on-year for the March quarter at Rs 2,394 crore,while revenue grew 18.1 per cent. Foggy visibility has forced the company to discontinue the practice of providing earnings per share EPS guidance.

The March quarter saw the lowest net addition of employees in three years,with the firm adding only 1,059 employees during the period,highlighting how Indian IT firms are going slow on fresh hires.

Infosys CEO and managing director SD Shibulal pointed out that the global economic uncertainties remain challenging for the IT industry. Discretionary spend is under tremendous stress, he said.

For the full financial year,Infosys posted a revenue growth of 5.8 per cent to 7,398 million,missing the guidance target of 6.5 per cent growth it had issued for FY13. Full-year net profit stood at 1,725 million. FE