India’s Infosys profit surges 38 %

Bloomberg

Infosys Ltd. posted a 38 percent surge in third-quarter profit on a tax benefit and investments in digital technologies as its new chief executive officer maintained forecasts for slowing sales growth.
Net income was 51.3 billion rupees ($806 million) in the three months ended in December, compared with the 36.1 billion rupee average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company booked a $225 million gain, part of a series of tax-provision reversals agreed upon with US tax authorities. Sales rose just 3 percent in the quarter. The earnings announcement is the first since Salil Parekh took over as CEO after a boardroom tussle that ushered out Vishal Sikka. Asia’s second-largest software services company had been an investor favourite before a very public clash between its directors and several founders over corporate governance issues. Parekh’s pledged to keep steering Infosys away from a traditionally labour-intensive model. “Infosys results are decent, actually positive as there is no negative,” said Sushant Kumar, fund manager at Mumbai-based Raay Global Investments Pvt. “After Sikka’s exit, market was expecting a status quo on results front and it came.”
Full-year revenue will rise 5.5 to 6.5 percent in constant currency terms, while in US dollars growth is projected at 6.5 to 7.5 percent, a prediction that was cut in 2017 after the boardroom upheaval. Sales in fiscal 2017 rose 9.7 percent.