Infosys Q4 disappoints on dollar revenue front

Infosys, India's third largest IT exporter, on Tuesday opened the fourth quarter technology earnings calendar reporting net profits of Rs 2,992 crore or Rs 52.36 a share compared to Rs 2,875 crore or Rs 50.32 a share in the December quarter. The profit numbers were ahead of Street expectations.     

However, the company disappointed on the dollar revenue front, reporting a topline of $2,092 million, down 0.4 per cent sequentially. In the quarter ended December 2013, Infosys had reported revenues of $2,100 million.

Analysts were expecting the company to report flat sequential growth in dollar terms, between $2102 million and 2108 million because of reduced spending in sectors such as retail.

During the fourth quarter, North America declined by 0.8 per cent while Europe grew by 1 per cent. A harsh winter in the United States meant selling became difficult during the quarter.

The company's outlook for 2014/2015 was broadly in line analyst expectations. The firm guided a dollar revenue growth of 7 per cent-9 per cent during the year.

While the number appears disappointing considering that it is below Nasscom's outlook of 13-15 per cent industry growth, investors have factored in the undergoing restructuring in the company. Experts saw Infosys' full year 2014/2015 revenues coming in a wide band of 6-10 per cent growth.

Nevertheless, a growth of 7 per cent-9 per cent implies that Infosys would grow slower in 2014/2015 than it did in 2013/2014 - this year, the firm grew at 11.5 per cent rake in annual revenues of $ 8,249 million.

"I am pleased that we have been able to double our growth rate for the full year compared to last year, though performance in the last quarter of FY14 has been disappointing." CEO SD Shibulal noted in a press release. "We remain firmly focused on building the growth momentum by making all the necessary investments in our business."

The company's cash and cash equivalents crossed $5 billion during the quarter and the firm recommended a final dividend of Rs 43/- per equity share for 2013/2014.

"Infosys fourth quarter dollar revenues were below estimate due to decline in realization. EBIT margin at 25.5 per cent was marginally higher than our estimate of 25 per cent. Guidance of 7-9 per cent implies 2.1-2.9 per cent CQGR in 2014/2015, which is in line with expectation," Ashish Chopra, analyst with brokerage house Motilal Oswal said.

Dipen Shah of Kotak Securities said that the company's client - specific and vertical-specific issues may likely impact the near term results. "However, we believe that the initiatives being taken by the management should lead to higher growth and stable margins in the second half of 2014/2015 and in 2015/2016. To that extent, we maintain our positive view on the stock with a medium-to-long term perspective," he added.

Infosys shares closed the day's trade at Rs 3260.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, up 0.76 per cent. The BSE Sensex shed 144.03 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 22,484.93.