MUMBAI, India (AP) — Quarterly profits at Infosys beat expectations, but the outsourcing bellwether said Thursday that weak demand, especially in Europe, would hit growth going forward, disappointing investors.
Profit for the December quarter was 23.7 billion rupees ($458 million), up 15.4 percent in dollar terms from a year ago, beating expectations.
Revenues were 93.0 billion rupees ($1.8 billion), up 13.9 percent in dollar terms.
The company said slowing growth and the crisis in Europe mean growth going forward will be less than expected. It said revenue and earnings growth this quarter, in dollars, would be flat and cut its guidance for the year.
It said it expects revenues for the fiscal year ending March to grow 16.4 percent in dollar terms and earnings per share to grow 14.5 percent. In October, it had said revenue growth could be as high as 19.1 percent and earnings per share could rise as much as 16.8 percent in dollar terms.
"The global economy, driven by slower growth in developed markets coupled with the European crisis, could impact the growth of the IT industry," chief executive S.D. Shibulal said in a statement.
The stock plunged 6.8 percent in early trade in Mumbai.
Nearly two-thirds of the company's revenues come from the United States. Europe is its second-biggest market.
Earnings in rupee terms were helped by the weakness of the Indian rupee, which plunged 11 percent during the December quarter.
Chief financial officer V. Balakrishnan said managing such extreme currency volatility going forward would be a challenge for the industry.
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