Infosys net profit declines 30% in Q3

INFOSYS SAID IT WILL BUY BACK ₹8,260 CR SHARES AND OFFER INVESTORS SPECIAL DIVIDEND OF ₹4/ SHARE

NEWDELHI: Indian IT services company Infosys Ltd raised its fullyear revenue growth forecast on Friday, but reported a largerthan-expected drop in thirdquarter profit, due to higher expenses.

The country’s second-biggest software services exporter by market capitalisation reported a 29.6% fall in attributable profit for October-december to ₹3,609 crore ($511.94 million). That compared with the ₹4,131 crore average of 25 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv Eikon.

A year earlier, it made a profit of ₹5,129 crore, helped by tax benefits from the firm’s deal with the US Internal Revenue Service, the company said in a statement.

Still, Infosys raised its revenue growth forecast for the year through March 2019 to 8.5-9% in constant currency, from 6-8% previously. Total expenses in the quarter surged over 26% to ₹170,21 crore, which included an additional depreciation and amortization charge of $12 million and a reduction of $65 million in the carrying value for its Skava units. The company also said it was “no longer highly probable” that the sale of its units Kallidus & Skava and Panaya would be completed by 31 March, 2019.

Meanwhile, revenue from operations in the quarter rose 20.3% to ₹21,400 crore in what is usually considered a seasonally weak period for Indian IT firms.

Infosys on Friday said it will buy back shares worth up to ₹8,260 crore and offer shareholders a special dividend of ₹4 per share.