Infosys Q3 FY13 results: Plan to hike on-site wages by 2-3%; attrition stable at 15.1%

BANGALORE: After declaring its results for the third quarter of the current financial year, Infosys on Friday announced its intent to hike on-site wages by 2-3 per cent in the fourth quarter. The salary increments announced in the second quarter and the lethargic markets have managed to reign in on people leaving in IT giant.

"We plan to give onsite wage increase of 2-3 per cent in Q4 ... We added 7,500 employees gross this quarter. We are looking at promotions this quarter, 6,000 to 9,000 people," Infosys CEO and Managing Director S D Shibulal said.

Infosys was the only company among large software services firms which deferred salary hikes earlier in the year citing uncertain business environment. It, however, gave promotions to 20,000 employees.

Most IT companies hike wages in April. In 2009 too, Infosys had deferred hikes and gave it out in the middle of the year when the business sentiment improved.
Attrition for the last 12 months for Infosys has remained stable at 15.1% for the quarter ended December. The previous quarter was 15% and in the same period last year the IT firm had an attrition rate of 15.4%.

Utlisation rates for Infosys increased albeit marginally. The third quarter showed utilisation rates of 70.1% compared with 69.9% last year. Sequentially, there has been an increase of 0.5% only.

Infosys reported a net profit of Rs 2,369 crore for the quarter ended December 2012 against a net profit of Rs 2,372 crore in the same period a year ago. The net profit was above ET Now poll estimate of Rs 2,225 crore.

The company reported revenue of Rs 10,424 crore as compared to Rs 9,298 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

After eight quarters the company has surprised the street by upping its FY13 guidance. The company sees FY13 sales at Rs 40,750 crore vs Rs 39,580 crore earlier. FY13 dollar revenues are seen at $7.45 billion vs $7.34 billion earlier.

"We were able to maintain our margins through efficiency improvements despite increased operating expenses. We remain focused on making the right investments for profitable and sustainable growth in the longer term", said Rajiv Bansal, Chief Financial Officer.

The other income stood at Rs 503 crore and consolidated operating profit was at Rs 2677 crore.

(With inputs from ET Bureau)