KV Kamath, Mohandas Pai, V Balakrishnan played a role in my return: NRN Murthy

NEW DELHI: Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy today said noted banker K V Kamath and former board members Mohandas Pai and V Balakrishnan played a "role" in his return to the helm of affairs at the country's second largest software services firm.

Murthy, who retired in August 2011, was called back in June last year to take charge of the once IT bellwether that failed to keep pace with the growth posted by industry peers like TCS and HCL Technologies.

"I'm grateful to K V Kamath, V Balakrishnan, T V Mohandas Pai, Ravi Venkatesan and to my family for the role they played in my coming back to the company," Murthy wrote in his letter in the company's annual report.

Pai, who was served as Infosys' Human Resource head, left the Bangalore-based firm in April 2011, a few months before Murthy retired.

Balakrishnan, who was serving as Lodestone head when Murthy returned for his second stint, resigned from Infosys in December 2013. Bala, as he is popularly known, fought the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Bangalore Central constituency on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket.

Kamath, who is the Lead Independent Director at Infosys, was named the Chairman when Murthy retired, a post he relinquished on Murthy's return. He is also the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of ICICI Bank.

Former Microsoft India Chairman Venkatesan is a member on the Infosys board.

Murthy said: "My office, the CFO and the head of Human Resources have played a seminal role in this journey. I record my gratitude to these fine people."

He further thanked Kris Gopalakrishnan (Infosys Vice Chairman), Infosys CEO S D Shibulal, Board Members and employees for their support, hard work and passion to "enhance the Infosys magic."

"We have done credibly this year by doubling our revenue growth to 11.5 per cent (in USD terms). Further our operating margins improved from 23.5 per cent in Q1 FY 2014 to 25.5 per cent in Q4 FY 2014. This is laudable by any standard. I congratulate every Infoscion on this stealer performance," he stated.

On the road ahead, Murthy said the company needs to increase "competitiveness" in the market to achieve industry leading growth and margins.

"This goal requires us to attract, enable, empower and retain the best and the brightest talent... Develop leadership and succession planning... and sharpen the accountability of our business units, business enabler functions, projects and individuals to deliver results," he said.

The firm, which is on a revival path following the return of Murthy, posted a reported 25 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 2,992 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 and 23.2 per cent growth in revenue at Rs 12,875 crore compared to the year-ago period.

Murthy signed off saying: "Growth is painful. Change is painful. But, nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong."