Infosys Q4 profit rises 27.4%, meets forecast

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd, India's second-largest software services exporter, reported a 27.4 percent rise in quarterly net profit, meeting forecast, after customers ramped up orders to cut operational costs.

Bangalore-based Infosys said on Friday consolidated net profit for the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31 rose to 23.16 billion rupees from 18.18 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts had forecast a net profit of 23.18 billion rupees for the company, whose customers include Procter & Gamble Co and Volkswagen AG, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Infosys and its bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services Ltd , part of India's $100 billion information technology and back-office services outsourcing sector, have benefited from cost-conscious customers bumping up demand.

An uncertain global economy and rising U.S. rhetoric against shipping of jobs to low-cost locations ahead of the November presidential election are, however, concerns for the sector that gets half its revenue from the world's largest economy.

Tata Consultancy, Infosys and No. 3 exporter Wipro are also facing increased competition from bigger global rivals such as IBM and Accenture for a bigger share of the outsourcing business.

Reflecting the concerns on the outlook, shares in Infosys, which has a market value of $31 billion, are down 0.6 percent this year, compared with a 3 percent gain in the sector index and 12 percent rise in the broader market <.BSESN>.

(Reporting by Harichandan Arakali; Editing by Malini Menon and Ranjit Gangadharan)