Infosys beats estimates as Q4 net rises 17.5%

Bengaluru: IT services major Infosys on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected Q4 performance on the back of strong momentum in the large deal space. The Bengaluru-headquartered firm posted a net profit of Rs 5,076 crore, a rise of 17.5 per cent over the same period last year. Its revenues rose 13.1 per cent to Rs 26,311 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2021 as compared to a year ago period.

In dollar terms, revenues of the firm stood at $3.61 billion, a growth of 2 per cent over the past quarter in constant currency term. For the whole fiscal, revenues of the IT major increased 10.7 per cent to Rs 1,00,472 crore. Net profit rose 16.6 per cent at Rs 19,351 crore. Revenues in dollar terms were at $13.56 billion, a growth of 5 per cent in constant currency terms. Its larger peer TCS' revenues in constant currency term declined 0.8 per cent.

In the operating margin front, Infosys' saw its margins falling by 90 basis points quater-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) at 24.5 per cent in Q4. For the whole fiscal, margin was at 24.5 per cent, which was at the higher end of its guided range of 24-24.5 per cent for the last financial year. Rising expenses, and higher wage cost were cited as the reasons for such margin guidance.

Despite a pandemic year, Infosys bagged one of the highest number of large deals in FY21. Its large deals for the fourth quarter stood at $2.1 billion, taking the number for the whole fiscal to $14.1 billion. The company said that 25 large deals were signed in Q4 with 52 per cent being net new (coming for the first time). During the fourth quarter, Infosys drew 51.5 per cent of its revenues from digital with rest coming from the legacy businesses. "We have crossed a milestone of Rs 100,000 crore in revenue in FY21. Our record large deal wins stand testimony to the effectiveness of this approach. A strong momentum exiting FY21, alongside a focused strategy to accelerate client digital journeys, gives us confidence for a stronger FY22," said Salil Parekh, CEO and MD of Infosys.

The company also added 10,307 employees on net basis to take its total headcount to 259,619 by the end of March quarter. Its attrition going up by 5.2 per cent at 15.2 per cent in Q4 of FY21 as compared to 10 per cent reported in the previous quarter.