Infosys revises guidance; sales beat estimates again

BANGALORE: India’s second largest software services firm Infosys on Friday said it expects fiscal 2014 revenue growth to fall in the 9% to 10% range compared to the 6% to 10% range it had given in March.

The revised revenue forecast, which falls within the higher end of the previous guidance, indicates greater confidence in the business environment and a strong sales pipeline for the company, whose second quarter sales growth were well above the Street expectations.

The company reported a 3.8% growth in sequential revenues reported in dollars, while profits during the July- September period fell 8.4% on the back of higher operating expenses and a provision of $35 million set aside for "visa related matters." Analysts were expecting a 2,.5% to 3% revenues growth.

After a long gap, this is the first time Infosys is beating sales estimates for the second quarter in a row.

Infosys said it added 68 clients during the quarter, the highest in the recent past. In a statement, its chief executive officer SD Shibulal said the company will continue with its planned investments and initiatives to explore new avenues of growth, but will remain watchful of improving global economic scene.

"During the quarter we witnessed broad-based volume growth, robust client additions, five large deal wins and increased sales momentum of our big data and cloud offerings,” he said.