Infosys to roll out salary hike ranging from 'mid-single digit to high-single digit'

IT services firm Infosys on Friday said it will roll out salary hikes ranging from "mid-single digit to high-single digit" for a majority of its employees. The salary hike will be effective from April onwards.

Infosys COO Pravin Rao said, "We are also pleased to announce compensation revision for 85 percent of our employees starting April. For rest of the employees, primarily middle management and senior management, it will be effective 1 July. This is for both onsite and offshore."

"Majority of employees in India will get raises from mid-single digit to high-single digit," Rao added. Infosys had a total headcount of 2,04,107 people at the end of 31 March, 2018. While the gross addition stood at 12,329 people, the net addition was of 2,416 employees.

Rao said the attrition at the company for the March quarter had increased to 16.6 percent as compared to 15.8 percent in the previous quarter. "However, the high-performers attrition has come down dramatically at 9.4 percent," he added.

India's second-largest software services firm posted a 2.4 per cent rise in its fourth-quarter net profit to Rs 3,960 crore, while the revenue increased 5.6 per cent to Rs 18,083 crore. However, the company's net profit on a quarterly basis fell 28.1 per cent. The IT services behemoth had reported a net profit of Rs 5,129 crore in the December quarter and Rs 3,603 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Infosys Q3 FY18 net profit included positive impact of Rs 1,432 crore on account of conclusion of an Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) with the United States' Internal Revenue Service. The company said its revenues from digital offerings stood at $2.79 billion (25.5 per cent of total revenues) for FY18. The IT services firm has guided for 6-8 per cent constant currency revenue growth for FY19.

Infosys new CEO and Managing Director Salil Parekh, who concluded his first complete quarter at the IT major, said, "I am pleased with our healthy revenue growth, profitability, and cash generation in Q4. Our robust performance is a reflection of the strong impact we have with our clients and the dedication of our employees. 'Navigating Your Next' is our aspiration of how we will partner with each one of our clients."

"We will execute our strategy around the four pillars of scaling our agile digital business which is today $2.79 billion in revenue, energizing our client's core technology landscape via AI and automation, re-skilling our employees, and Expanding our localization in markets su ch as US, Europe, and Australia.

In the press conference, Parekh said the company will complete the sale of Panaya and Skava by March 2019. Infosys said assets amounting to Rs 2,060 crore ($316 million) and liabilities amounting to Rs 324 crore ($50 million) in respect of the disposal group have been reclassified and presented as "held for sale".

On reclassification, an impairment loss of Rs 118 crore ($18 million) in respect of Panaya has been recognized in the consolidated profit and loss for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2018. The corresponding write down in the investment value of Panaya in the standalone financial statements of Infosys Ltd. is Rs 589 crore ($90 million), it said. 

The company's CFO, Ranganath D. Mavinakere, said the total dividend payout is 30 per cent higher than last year. Infosys has recommended a final dividend of Rs 20.50/- per equity share for the financial year ended March 31, 2018 and special dividend of Rs 10/- per equity share.

Infosys also approved a definitive agreement to acquire Wongdoody holding Company Inc, a US-based creative and consumer insights agency for a total conside ration of up to $75 million (approximately Rs 489 crore).