India's second-largest IT services company Infosys on Wednesday said its consolidated net profit grew by 20.5 per cent to Rs 4,845 crore for the September quarter, and it has raised revenue forecast to 2-3 per cent for FY21. Infosys had clocked a net profit of Rs 4,019 crore in the same period last fiscal, Infosys said in a regulatory filing.
The other prominent gainers were Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Wipro, State Bank of India and Larsen & Toubro. Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) jumped 4 per cent on Tuesday, taking its market valuation to above Rs 15 lakh crore mark. The stock of the country's second most valued firm by market valuation jumped 4.05 per cent to settle at Rs 4,133.45 apiece on the BSE. During the day, shares of the company climbed 4.45 per cent to Rs 4,149.75 -- its all-time high.
I started my journey as the CEO of this iconic company with a mission to transform it on the basis of software, especially (artificial intelligence), and innovation, enabled by education. Three years later, I feel proud of our progress and achievements: Vishal Sikka.
The IT firm will soon initiate discussions with colleges to start the process from September.
India's top technology companies will witness a tepid revenue expansion in the third quarter (October - December) of the current financial year (Q3FY24) - along expected lines - on the back of furloughs and no blockbuster deals, even as the momentum gained from Generative AI (GenAI) is likely to take centre stage. IT services and consulting firm Accenture's first quarter numbers in FY24 showed a significant pick up in GenAI spending. It signed new bookings to the tune of $450 million in this space, a surge from the $300 million signed in the whole of FY23.
Among the Sensex firms, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies and Axis Bank were the biggest gainers. Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finance were the laggards.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Tuesday became the first listed company to hit the Rs 20 lakh crore market valuation mark. The market heavyweight's stock jumped 1.88 per cent to its record high of Rs 2,957.80 apiece on the BSE. It finally settled at Rs 2,928.95 per piece, up 0.90 per cent on the bourse.
Co-founder Nilekani could take the role of non-executive chairman, becoming a bridge between the board and Murthy, reports Ayan Pramanik.
Infosys' up to Rs 9,200 crore buyback plan is scheduled to commence from June 25, wherein the IT major has proposed to buy back shares at a maximum price of Rs 1,750 apiece. The Board approval for the buyback was granted on April 14, 2021, and the shareholders' nod was received on June 19, 2021, at the company's 40th annual general meeting. The Bengaluru-based company has issued a public announcement on June 23 in various newspapers for the buyback of its equity shares from the open market through the stock exchange route, a regulatory filing said on Wednesday.
Operating margins have been the primary driver of corporate earnings in India in recent quarters, despite revenue growth suffering from weak consumer demand. Companies across sectors have reported a sharp improvement in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) margins over the past two years, benefiting from lower commodity and energy prices. Higher margins more than compensated for slower revenue growth, resulting in double-digit growth in net profit for five consecutive quarters.
This time an anonymous whistleblower made an appeal to market regulator Sebi to probe an agreement made by the tech giant with some of its ex-directors.
Certain changes in the past two or three years could have a long-term structural impact on the IT services market.
Legal experts fear such shareholder activism could turn into a class-action suit against Infosys
Infosys now plans to re-purpose Skava's micro services-based business and re-focus Panaya's suite of products.
The company said the committee, headed by independent director D Sundaram and assisted by independent legal counsel Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, found that the "allegations are substantially without merit".
Investors' wealth eroded by Rs 6 lakh crore in a single day on Wednesday as the BSE benchmark Sensex tumbled over 790 points. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 790.34 points or 1.08 per cent to settle at 72,304.88. During the day, it slumped 872.93 points or 1.19 per cent to 72,222.29.
Nandan Nilekani said one board member had received two anonymous complaints on September 30, 2019 - one dated September 20, 2019, titled 'Disturbing unethical practices' and an undated note with the title, 'Whistleblower Complaint'.
Infosys Senior Vice President Sanjay Rajagopalan has resigned from his post, a month after Vishal Sikka stepped down as the company's MD and CEO.
In his blog, sikka said, "It is clear to me that despite our successes over the last three years, and the powerful seeds of innovation that we have sown, I cannot carry out my job as CEO and continue to create value, while also constantly defending against unrelenting, baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks."
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) February 8 for the first time ever crossed the Rs 7 trillion market capitalisation, as the stock price of state-owned insurer hit a new high of Rs 1,144,45, on rallying 10 per cent on the BSE. The board of directors of the Corporation are scheduled to meet today i.e. February 8, 2024, to consider a proposal for declaration of interim dividend for the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The board will also consider and approve the unaudited financial results for the quarter and nine-month period ended on December 31, 2023.
The fresh meat and seafood delivery startup Licious plans to set up 500 stores nationwide within the next five years as part of an omnichannel strategy. The aim is to attract new users in the offline channel and encourage them to transact online as well. The move would also help the company in its efforts to achieve profitability and go for an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 24 months, according to the sources.
Other losers were Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finance, shedding up to 3.51 per cent. The broader NSE Nifty too tumbled 73.50 points, or 0.63 per cent, to settle at 11,588.35.
Junking Murthy's claims, Infosys said the board did all it could to look into whistle-blower complaints of corporate governance lapses, particularly those related to acquisition of Panaya.
The tech giant said it is unable to provide revenue outlook for FY 21 due to business uncertainty amid COVID-19 outbreak.
Former CFO V Balakrishnan seeks exit of Infosys chairman, co-chairman R Seshasayee, co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan, audit committee chairman Roopa Kudva and nomination committee chairman Jeffrey S Lehman.
Many say N R Narayana Murthy returned to Infosys only because it was floundering. Ironically, that itself can be interpreted as the great man's biggest failure.
Its revenue grew 8.5 per cent to Rs 23,665 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 21,803 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.
The top-notch faculty at Crotonville, including Noel Tichy, Ram Charan, Vijay Govindarajan, along with GE's top leaders Jack Welch, Gary Reiner, Bill Conaty, Jeffrey Immelt and Susan Peters, together delivered sought-after programmes on leadership to generations of early-stage leaders, mid-tier and senior managers from all over the world, recounts Indrajit Gupta.
Even as Srini Pallia, a Wipro veteran, is set to take charge as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company, analysts expect the stock's underperformance to continue in the near-future. This, they believe, will be on the back of likely loss of market share, and difficult business environment. "We expect Wipro to underperform peers on growth once again in FY25 as channel checks and media reports suggest Wipro is losing share with select clients across multiple verticals.
An initiative of Nandan Nilekani's EkStep Foundation, people+ai on Tuesday unveiled its vision for the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India, dubbed 'Adbhut India' (Amazing India). It aims to harness AI as a powerful tool to enhance the lives of all Indians. The event marked the rollout of several initiatives by people+ai that are focused on discovering, demonstrating, and disseminating population-scale AI use cases for India.
India's third largest IT company HCL Technologies on Friday reported a flat year-on-year growth in net profit in the March quarter at Rs 3,986 crore. However, the company posted an 8.4 per cent decline in net profit on a sequential basis, amid rising employee cost and tightening IT spends around the world. The company described the performance as "decent" in view of the global macroeconomic conditions.
The latest one being Ken Toombs, global head of consulting at the Bengaluru-based entity.
The person identified as Mujeeb Mohammad had made this call in a Facebook post. "Let's join hands, go out and sneeze with open mouth in public. Spread the virus," he wrote.
With employees as brand ambassadors, can the company get the grime off its image?
The all-cash transaction is likely to be complete in the first quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory clearance.
However, the company says it will suspended promotions and salary increments this year.
The company has raised its revenue outlook for FY2019-20 in constant currency to 10-10.5 per cent, from its topline guidance of 9-10 per cent given in October.
Reliance Industries was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 2.69 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, JSW Steel, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and Titan. In contrast, NTPC, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank, Infosys and Nestle were the major laggards.
There were reports that Infosys had laid off 500 people in the aftermath of losing its multi-million pound deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland.