Infosys' Q4 revenues down 5% at Rs 8852cr

By Reema Tendulkar, CNBC-TV18

India's second largest software services provider Infosys reported a 27% year-on-year growth in net profit for the fourth quarter, but forecast much lower-than-expected US dollar revenue growth for FY13, warning the year remained challenging due to slower growth in the global economy.

It reported a net profit of Rs 2,316 crore for the January-March quarter, up 27.4% year-on-year, but down 2.4% sequentially. Revenue for the three-month period was up 22.1% from a year ago at Rs 8,852 crore. Revenue quarter-on-quarter was down 4.8% in Jan-March, which is typically a muted quarter for IT exporters.

Analysts on average had expected Infosys to report a fourth quarter net profit of Rs 2,290 crore on revenue of Rs 9,148 crore.

Infosys' fourth quarter EBIT margin was at 29.9%, down from 31.2% from the third quarter.

But, what shocked the street most was the dollar revenue guidance for fiscal 2013, which was significantly lower than what the street expected and also much lower than what industry body NASSCOM has forecast for the industry.

The stock tumbled over 10% on opening and at 9:45 hrs was down 9.2% at Rs 2,496.70 

Infosys expects a revenue growth of 8-10% to USD 7,553-7,692 million for the current fiscal year. Its earnings per American depository share are likely to grow 4-5.7% year-on-year to USD 3.12-3.17 for the full year.

Analysts on average had expected Infosys to guide to a 12-14% growth in FY13 revenue.

"The year ahead looks challenging for the IT services industry, with slow recovery in the global markets," said CEO and MD, SD Shibulal.

"The global currency market volatility continues to be a challenge for the industry," added V Balakrishnan, CFO.