ANIRUDH SETHI RESIGNED
BANGALORE, April 15 (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies Ltd , India's No. 2 software services exporter, missed quarterly profit estimates due to higher costs and said its human resources chief would quit the board, knocking its shares down more than 7 percent.
Bangalore-based Infosys, the first to kick off results for India's nearly $60 billion IT sector, also forecast tepid sales growth for the year ending March 2012.
"Infosys has a history of generally beating market expectations. So, the street is disappointed," said Gajendra Nagpal, CEO of Unicon Financial in New Delhi. "Also, the market may now bring down its expectations from the entire IT pack."
Infosys, founded in 1981 by seven engineers with $250 borrowed from their spouses, reported a net profit of 18.2 billion rupees ($408.5 million) versus 16 billion rupees a year ago.
This compares with a Reuters poll forecast for net profit of 18.81 billion rupees for Infosys , whose clients include Goldman Sachs , BT Group and BP .
Indian technology firms have seen a shake-up in recent months. In January, smaller rival Wipro replaced the chiefs of its key outsourcing business after struggling to keep up with peers.
Infosys, which boasts higher profit margins versus local and global peers, said its margins could decline this year, mainly due to a volatile local currency.
"Currency volatility continued to be a challenge," chief financial officer V. Balakrishnan told reporters in Bangalore.
Infosys, larger rival Tata Consultancy Services , and No. 3 Wipro have all stepped up hiring in the past few months, reflecting strong demand from clients.
However, a possible appreciation of the rupee and pay increases for employees as they battle the likes of IBM and Accenture for orders and staff, will be key concerns for export-oriented firms.
Tags : infosys q4 results 2011, infosys, infosys results q4 2011, anirudh sethi, infosys share price, smartinvestment, economictimes, infosys result, money.rediff, cnbc india
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