No prima facie evidence of allegations: Infosys
■ Firm says it can’t determine correctness of complaints now
Britain's children and baby products retailer Mothercare said it was putting its lossmaking UK business into administration at a risk of more than 2,000 jobs. The 58-yearold global brand's 79 British stores have been bleeding cash for years. The firm said it has been holding fruitless talks with partners about its domestic operations since May 2018.
New Delhi, Nov. 4: Infosys on Monday said it is yet to receive any evidence to corroborate anonymous whistleblowers’ complaints that alleged unethical practices by the company’s top management.
“With respect to the anonymous complaints, there is no prima facie evidence that the company has received until date to corroborate any of the allegations made,” Infosys told the National Stock Exchange.
On October 24, the NSE sought clarification from the IT major on the whistleblowers’ allegations and why the company had not disclosed the same to the exchanges.
In its response, the company said the audit committee has already engaged law firm, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, to investigate the matter, and had also started consultations with an independent internal auditor, Ernst & Young.
The independent internal auditor was given a mandate to review certain processes on the basis of the allegation in the anonymous complaints.
“... Given the circumstances at this stage, where there is complete absence of prima facie evidence and the anonymous complaints are still under investigation, the company is not in a position to determine the concreteness, credibility and materiality of the anonymous complaints,” Infosys noted.
The company also said it would keep stock exchanges informed about the matter on the basis of the findings of the investigation. Shares of Infosys rose
3.23 per cent to close at Rs
710.10 apiece on the NSE. In October, Infosys informed the stock exchanges of having received anonymous whistleblowers’ complaints alleging certain unethical practices by the top management.
Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani had said the whistleblower complaint dated September 20 as well as an undated complaint had been received by one of the board members on September 30.
In the letter, dated
September 20 and signed by ‘Ethical Employees’, it was alleged that CEO Salil Parikh as well as Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy engaged in forced revenue recognition from large contracts not adhering to accounting standards.
The complaints were placed before the audit committee on October 10, and to the company’s nonexecutive board members on October 11, also the day when Infosys announced its second quarter results.
US market regulator SEC has also initiated a probe on the matter, while Rosen Law Firm had said it was preparing a class action lawsuit to recover losses suffered by Infosys investors in the US.
Back home, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had sought additional information from the company, while the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), part of the corporate affairs ministry, is looking into alleged accounting lapses at the firm. —
New Delhi, Nov. 4: Mortgage lender HDFC on Monday said its consolidated net profit jumped over 76.3 per cent to Rs 10,748.69 crore in the September 2019 quarter from Rs 6,096.85 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income on a consolidated basis rose to Rs 32,850.89 crore in the said quarter from Rs 22,950.66 crore a year ago, HDFC said.
On a standalone basis, the firm booked a net income of Rs 3,962 crore, up 61 per centyear-on-year.
The company booked a profit of Rs 1,627 crore from a part stake sale in Gruh Finance during the quarter.
Another big boost came form of a massive spike in dividend income during the quarter worth Rs 1,074 crore from a paltry Rs 6 crore in the previous year.
Total income grew 63 per cent to Rs 3,866 crore from Rs 2,378 crore. Net interest income rose 17 per cent to Rs 3,021 crore.