India's Infosys posts 17.5pc fourth-quarter profit jump

BENGALURU: Indian software services company Infosys reported a 17.5% rise in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, boosted by large contract wins in an accelerated shift to digitisation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bengaluru-based Infosys, India's second-biggest software services provider, said it expects annual revenue in the financial year to the end of March 2022 to grow by 12-14% in constant currency terms.

As businesses increasingly shift operations online, Indian IT services providers say they expect to benefit from sustained demand.

Infosys posted consolidated net profit of 50.76 billion rupees ($675.39 million) in the three months to March 31, up from 43.21 billion rupees a year earlier.

The company won large deals worth a total of $2.1 billion in the quarter and added 130 clients, up from 84 additions in the same period last year.

Infosys also recommended a final dividend for the year of 15 rupees per share.

Bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services posted a 15% jump in profit on the back of cloud services demand while smaller rival Wipro reports results on Thursday.

Infosys said revenue for the quarter rose to 263.11 billion rupees from 232.67 billion rupees.

The company also said it would approve a share buyback of up to 92 billion rupees. Its shares had hit a record high on Monday after saying it was considering such a move.

Infosys shares ended 2% down on Wednesday, against a 1.4% gain for the broader Mumbai market.