Tech major Infosys reported a 3.17% increase in second-quarter net profit to ₹6,212 crore, and revised revenue growth guidance for this fiscal to 1% to 2.5% against the earlier estimate of 1% to 3.5%.
Revenue rose 6.7% to ₹38,994 crore.
The company said the July-September quarter witnessed the highest-ever deals, valued at $7.7 billion, of which 48% were net new deals. “With large wins in the last two quarters, we are winning market share in the areas of cost and efficiency,” CEO and MD Salil Parekh said at a press conference here on Thursday.
“We continue to see the overall environment with digital transformation programmes; discretionary spends are low and decision making is slow.”
“Our Q2 operating margin of 21.2% demonstrates the early benefits of the recently unveiled margin improvement plan and is a clear reflection of our ability to continuously identify opportunities for improving operational efficiencies,” said CFO Nilanjan Roy. Infosys also declared an interim dividend of ₹18 per share.
Attrition, hiring down
Infosys’ attrition in the quarter was 14.6%, against 27.1% in the corresponding quarter a year earlier. As on September 30, the company had an employee base of 3,28,764, against 3,36,294 in the June ended quarter and 3,45,218 in the March ended quarter, indicating a decline in headcount for the third consecutive quarter. The company said the quarter saw a head reduction of 7,000 but utilisation went up only 70 basis points and therefore it still had enough room for utilisation improvement.
The firm, which hired more than 50,000 freshers last year, said it would pause campus hiring for two quarters as it looks to improve utilisation, Mr. Roy said.
