In his maiden post-result press conference after taking charge of IT giant Infosys on August 1 this year, Vishal Sikka didn't announce anything major. However, he reiterated the importance of innovation, automation and artificial intelligence.
"Infosys is embarking on a journey to renew existing work. Each business is complementing the renewal world. Infosys is seeing great opportunity in this paradigm, and is dealing with the duality. It is renewing process, as well as developing different processes. Education has been at the heart of Infosys' heart and remains key focus going ahead," MD and CEO Sikka said. The company is also looking to increase its training budget.
The Bangalore-based company exceeded street estimates by posting 28.6 percent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,096 crore for the quarter ended September 30 versus a net profit of Rs 2,407 crore in the year-ago period. Its consolidated revenue was up 2.9 percent to Rs 13,342 crore in this quarter from Rs 12,965 crore in the year-ago period.
The company has maintained its FY15 revenue guidance of 7-9 percent. Calling Q2 earnings as exciting, he added that rupee depreciation and strong operation performance helped the company's margin. In an attempt to please shareholders, the company's board has approved 1:1 bonus issue, which will be applicable to ADR shareholders as well. Infosys has also declared an interim dividend of Rs 30/share.
Sikka confident of getting Infosys back on the consistent profitable growth track, aims to transform it into a next generation service company.
"Digital transformation is reshaping the business of every one of our clients. We see this as a great opportunity to help them renew the core of their business as well as to expand into new frontiers and are seeing early positive results," he added.
Sikka took over the reins of Infosys at the time when the company was grappling with low profit and subdued growth. Its performance had fallen behind peers, especially arch rival Tata Consultancy Service. Sikka was earlier on the executive board of SAP AG took over from SD Shibulal. He is the first non-founding member CEO of the company.
While there were some concerns that it would take a while for Sikka to understand the nitty-gritty of the IT service business because he came from a product-oriented background; many experts had said that this appointment will bring stability to the top-deck.
For the complete press conference watch the accompanying videos
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