Infosys on Wednesday posted a 16.6 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at ₹ 5,197 crore for the December 2020 quarter, and increased its revenue growth guidance for FY21 to 4.5-5 per cent on the back of large project wins and strong deal pipeline.
The Bengaluru-based company, whose large deal total contract value rose to an all-time high of $7.13 billion in the quarter, had registered a net profit (after minority interest) of ₹ 4,457 crore in the year-ago period.
Infosys' revenue grew 12.3 per cent to ₹ 25,927 crore in the quarter ended December 2020 from ₹ 23,092 crore in the year-ago period.
Buoyed by the strong performance, Infosys increased its FY21 revenue growth forecast to 4.5-5 per cent in constant currency terms from its previous guidance of 2-3 per cent growth.
“We have had an exceptionally strong quarter across multiple dimensions...We achieved the highest large deals win in our history with the deal value of $7.1 billion. This includes the largest deal in our history and what we believe is the largest deal in the history of the Indian IT services industry," Infosys CEO and Managing Director Salil Parekh told reporters in a virtual conference.
He added that overall large deal value for the nine-month period of this financial year was at over $12 billion, and the net new large deal value for the same period was over $8 billion which positioned the company "very strongly" for the quarters ahead.
“Looking ahead, we continue to see momentum in our business, strong market share gain and increased speed of digital transformation for our clients...
“...for next year, we remain extremely confident, we clearly see that we will have double-digit growth in the next financial year, we have a strong set of deal wins...so overall, the business is looking in quite a healthy shape at this stage,” he added.
Parekh said the strong performance has prompted the company to increase its revenue growth guidance for the full year from 2-3 per cent to 4.5-5 per cent in constant currency terms.
Digital revenues
Infosys' digital revenues during the quarter crossed 50 per cent of the total revenue, clocking a year-on-year growth of 31.3 per cent on constant currency basis.
Parekh said the scale of new client partnerships with leading global companies such as Vanguard, Daimler and Rolls-Royce demonstrate the depth of digital and cloud capabilities of Infosys.
He also noted that the large deals are coming from across verticals and geographies.
“Large deals we are seeing it across different industries today. We have seen good traction in financial services, communications, high-tech, manufacturing, so it's quite broad based. In terms of geography too, we see demand across different geographies,” Parekh added.
At the end of the December 2020 quarter, Infosys had 2,49,312 employees, with voluntary attrition at 10 per cent. About 97 per cent of the company's staff continues to work from home amid the pandemic.
“Historically, we have had attrition around 13-15 per cent and we are comfortable with that. So, my sense is that over the next few quarters probably (it will) increase beyond 10 per cent,” Infosys COO Pravin Rao said.
He added that the company could hire close to 17,000 freshers in FY21.
“In FY22, in India we are looking at about 24,000 campus hires and this number also keeps in mind that part of it will backfill potential hike in attrition...”he said.
Infosys announced its numbers after the close of trading hours. Shares of Infosys closed at ₹1,387.70 apiece, up 1.16 per cent from the previous close on BSE.