Narayana Murthy "calls off" battle with Infosys board

NEW DELHI: A week ago Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy made allegations that corporate governance at Infosys did more harm than good to Infosys. But, that may all be over now. NR Narayana Murthy is reported to have "called off" the battle with Infosys board on Monday, ET Now reported quoting agencies.

The announcement comes just before an Infosys press conference scheduled at 6:00 pm today in Mumbai.

Infosys stock jumped over 1 per cent in morning trade to Rs 977.80.

BREAKING NOW NRN MURTHY SAYS: Calling off battle with Infosys board: Agencies

— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) February 13, 2017
 

BREAKING NOW NRN MURTHY SAYS: R Seshasayee has 'highest integrity': Agencies

— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) February 13, 2017

The agencies quoted Murthy saying that Infosys board is made up of 'decent people; however, large payments can be confusing and need to be sorted out.

"The news of Murthy calling off the battle between is a sort of positive development and now the focus will come back on again the earnings and the growth," Dhirendra Tiwari, HoR, Antique Stock Broking said in an interview with ET NOW.

Infosys founders, along with their family members, owned 12.75% in the company at the end of December 2016, as per the data available on the BSE.

Murthy, 70, questioned if large severance payments to departing employees (particularly ex-CFO Rajiv Bansal) constituted "hush money" and bemoaned what he described as a "concerning drop" in corporate governance at the company.

However, CEO Vishal Sikka has asked employees not to get distracted by speculations that question the company's commitment to "governance, integrity, and values".

Sikka said Infosys' revenue growth, which previously underperformed the industry growth by 50% about 2 years ago, is now in line with overall industry growth.

"...we have held margins through operational efficiency improvements and automation benefits. Our cash flow generation continues to be amongst the strongest in the industry. And in a key sign of a thriving enterprise, our new software and services have seen tremendous growth," he told employees.

Infosys' strategy is focussed on delivering higher value services and bringing the latest advances in technology into work.