Infosys Q2 profit grows 3.3% to Rs 3,726 cr

The second-largest Indian IT exporter Infosys today reported 3.3 per cent growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,726 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2017-18.

It had posted net profit of Rs 3,606 crore in the July- September quarter of 2016-17, Infosys said in a BSE filing.

Revenue of the Bengaluru-based firm grew 1.4 per cent to Rs 17,567 crore in the September quarter of the current fiscal, as against Rs 17,310 crore in the year-ago period.

The company lowered its revenue growth forecast for 2017 -18 to the 5.5-6.5 per cent range, from the earlier 6.5-8.5 per cent in constant currency.

"During the quarter, we responded quickly to the management and Board changes through proactive communication with all stakeholders minimising any negative impact to the business and allowing us to deliver growth across all our large industry units," Infosys Interim CEO and Managing Director UB Pravin Rao said in a statement.

On a sequential basis, the company's net profit rose 6.9 per cent and revenues by 2.8 per cent in rupee terms.

The Infosys board, under new chairman Nandan Nilekani, gave clean chit to Panaya acquisition, saying there was no wrongdoing.

"After careful consideration led by our Chairman, the Board reaffirms the previous findings of external investigations that there is no merit to the allegations of wrongdoing," the statement said.

It also concurred with stand of former CEO Vishal Sikka on not disclosing full investigation report on the Panaya deal. Infosys founder NR Narayanamurthy had demanded that the probe report on the Panaya acquisition be made public.

In February, Infosys had said it will investigate claims levelled by a whistleblower in an anonymous mail to markets regulator Sebi, alleging wrongdoings by the company when buying Israeli automation technology firm Panaya. The company had also hired Gibson Dunn and Control Risks to conduct an internal investigation into the charges which had given clean chit to the deal.

In February 2015, Infosys had announced buying the Israeli automation technology company for USD 200 million or Rs 1,250 crore in cash.

The Infosys board has said appropriate and timely disclosures were made on severance payments to the former CFO -- an issue that was flagged by the founder.
On the ongoing search for CEO, Infosys said: "The process of identifying the next CEO and shareholder consultation outreach have been initiated and are progressing well."