Murthy hints at low revenue, Infy tanks

The shares of Infosys Technologies tanked as much as 10 per cent in intra-day trade on the BSE on Thursday after its chairman Narayana Murthy said that his company would be able to meet only the lower end of its annual revenue growth guidance. It had earlier forecast a revenue growth of 11.5 to 12 per cent for FY14.

Mr Murthy who returned to Infosys last year to revive the company’s sagging fortunes made his remarks at an investor conference organised by broker- age firm Barclays Capital. In his interaction with investors, Mr Murthy attributed this slowdown to weakness in retail, consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry and high tech verticals along with the delay in some project ramp ups due to skill set mismatches and client specific issues.

The shares of Infosys finally closed the day at `3,357.50, down `313.40 or 8.54 per cent.

The top management highlighted that its conversation with 35 clients for the past six weeks indicate that revenue traction in some verticals remain challenging.

According to them, the CY14 spending in retail and CPG industry could be weak as aggressive promotions and discounting in the festive seasons have had an impact on the clients’ bottom line.

The high tech vertical of Infosys continues to see headwinds due to reduction in capital expenditure and decline in PC demand.