Infosys shares fall over 4% in early trade after Q2 earnings; brokerages remained cautious post-earnings

Mumbai: Shares of Infosys on Monday fell over 4 percent after the company reported a September-quarter profit that could only meet expectations on Friday, signalling a tricky macroeconomic environment for the sector.

The scrip dropped 4.25 percent to Rs 781 on the BSE, PTI said.

On the NSE, it fell 4.27 percent to Rs 780.

Meanwhile, brokerages remained cautious on the stock post the earnings, CNBC-TV18 said. Credit Suisse has an 'underperform' call on the stock but raised its target to Rs 720 per share from Rs 690 earlier, while, Jefferies maintained a 'buy' call on the stock but cut its target to Rs 915 per share from Rs 930 earlier.

The country's second-largest IT services company on Friday said its consolidated net profit declined by 2.2 percent to Rs 4,019 crore for the July-September 2019 quarter.

This is against a net profit of Rs 4,110 crore in the same period last fiscal, Infosys said in a regulatory filing.

The company's revenue rose by 9.8 percent to Rs 22,629 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 20,609 crore in the year-ago period. In constant currency terms, this translates into an 11.4 percent increase.

Representational image. Reuters

Infosys also raised the lower-end of its FY2019-20 revenue guidance and the revised forecast now stands at 9-10 percent growth in constant currency terms.

Infosys results came after a below-par showing from larger rival Tata Consultancy Services a day earlier.

Infosys shares fell 3.44 percent, dragging the Nifty IT index.

The Bengaluru-based company's revenue rose by 9.8 percent to Rs 22,629 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 20,609 crore in the year-ago period. In constant currency terms, this translates into an 11.4 percent increase.

Infosys also raised the lower-end of its FY2019-20 revenue guidance and the revised forecast now stands at 9-10 percent growth in constant currency terms.

At the beginning of the fiscal, Infosys had said it expects revenue growth of 7.5-9.5 percent for FY2019-20. Subsequently, while announcing its first-quarter numbers, the company raised its revenue growth guidance for the fiscal to 8.5-10 percent.

"Our performance was robust on multiple dimensions – revenue growth, digital growth, operating margins, operational efficiencies, large deal signings and reduction in attrition," Infosys CEO and MD Salil Parekh said.

All these are clear signs that the company is progressing well in its journey of client-centricity and maximising value for its stakeholders, he added.

In dollar terms, net profit was at $569 million while revenue was at $3.21 billion in the said quarter.

The results come a day after larger rival, Tata Consultancy Services announced its second-quarter results. The Mumbai-based firm reported a 1.8 percent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 8,042 crore while its revenue grew by 5.8 percent to Rs 38,977 crore.

In the September 2019 quarter, Infosys' Digital revenues grew 38.4 percent year-on-year to $1.23 billion, accounting for 38.3 percent of its total revenues.

It has also declared an interim dividend of Rs 8 per share. Infosys announced its results after the close of trading hours. Its scrip had closed at Rs 815.70 apiece, up 4.19 percent from the previous close on the BSE.

"We saw expansion in operating margins during the quarter driven by improvement in operational parameters and cost efficiencies. We took the first step towards the implementation of our new capital allocation policy by increasing interim dividend by over 14 percent compared to FY19," Infosys CFO Nilanjan Roy said.

The company completed its share buyback of Rs 8,260 crore on August 26, 2019, wrapping up its additional capital return programme of up to Rs 13,000 crore announced in April 2018.

"Q2 witnessed another quarter of all-round growth in industry segments and geographies which is a testimony to our strong credentials and client relevance. Large deal wins were $2.8 billion. We are especially pleased by the reduction in attrition driven by our focus on the enhanced employee value proposition," Infosys COO Pravin Rao said.

During the September quarter, Infosys added 7,457 people to take its overall headcount to about 2.36 lakh. Its annualised consolidated attrition was lower at 21.7 percent in the said quarter from 23.4 percent in the June quarter.

IT major TCS was the first large firm to open the second-quarter earnings season on Thursday.

TCS posted 1.8 percent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 8,042 crore for the quarter ended 30 September, 2019.