Infosys to cross $3 bn in revenue in FY 2006-07

Bangalore -- IT bellwether Infosys Technologies Ltd is expected to cross the $3 billion-mark in revenue for the current fiscal (2006-07).

Exceeding its guidance for the second time consecutively, the company said in a statement here Wednesday that consolidated income would be Rs.139 billion under the India GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) or $3.04 billion under the US GAAP by the end of this fiscal (FY 2007), projecting year-on-year (YoY) growth of 46 percent and 41 percent respectively.

"While we took 23 years to cross the first $1 billion mark in FY 2004 and 24 months to cross the $2 billion mark in FY 2006, we will be cross the $3 billon mark in just 12 months," a top company official told IANS here.

Riding on robust growth and steady dollar appreciation, the company posted net profit of Rs.9.3 billion ($203 million) for the second quarter (July-September) of the fiscal under review, registering a record growth of 52 percent YoY and 15 percent sequentially (from the previous quarter).

Similarly, the consolidated income for the quarter under review (Q2) grew by 50 percent YoY to Rs.34.5 billion under the Indian GAAP and $746 million under the US GAAP, posting YoY growth of 42 percent.

"Our business model provides a compelling value proposition to clients in a flat world. Our robust organic growth coupled with investments in various strategic areas helped us to grow faster in this environment.

"Hence, we have revised our guidance to cross $3 billion in revenues this fiscal," said Infosys CEO and Managing Director Nandan M. Nilekani in the statement.

Rewarding its investors handsomely, the company has declared an interim dividend of 100 percent (Rs.5) on par value of Rs.5 per share for the first half (April-September) of the current fiscal (FY 2007) as against 65 percent (Rs 3.25) on par value of Rs.5 per share in the same period of the last fiscal (FY 2006).

For the third quarter (October-December) of this fiscal, the consolidated income is expected to be Rs.36.3 billion under the Indian GAAP, projecting YoY growth of 43 percent and $795 million under the US GAAP, indicating 42 percent YoY growth.

"We saw strong double-digit growth during the second quarter. Package implementation, testing, consulting and business process management (BPM) services are growing fast. We have built the scale and momentum into these services for rapid growth," said Infosys Joint Managing Director S. Gopalakrishnan.

During the quarter under review (Q2), the company and its subsidiaries added 45 new clients, taking the total number of clients to 476 as against 450 clients a year ago and 469 clients at the end of the previous quarter (April-June) of FY 2007.

"The pricing environment continues to be stable with an upward bias. Our continued focus on offering multiple services and our end-to-end capability in delivering solutions is giving us a strategic advantage in growing client accounts," said S.D. Shibulal, the company's board member and group head of worldwide sales & customer delivery.