Bengaluru: Infosys on Thursday announced plans to return Rs13,000 crore from its cash pile to shareholders after it reported an almost flat net profit in the March quarter and sales outlook that fell short of estimates.
Yielding to pressure from a group of founders and former executives, the company announced a share buyback programme and a pledge to raise dividends. It also appointed Ravi Venkatesan, an independent director, as co-chairman in a bid to address the founders’ corporate governance concerns.
It will begin to pay 70 per cent of annual free cash flow as dividend compared to a previous policy of sharing up to half its post-tax profit.For the Jan-March quarter, Infosys reported a 0.2 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,603 crore while revenue grew 3.4 per cent to Rs 17,120 crore.
In 2017-18, the company expects revenue to grow between 6.5 per cent to 8.5 per cent in constant currency terms. On a sequential basis, Infosys’ net profit fell 2.8 per cent while revenue declined 0.9 per cent.
Infosys Highlight
- On a sequential basis, Infosys’ net profit fell 2.8% while revenue declined 0.9%
- Infosys earnings set the tone for other technology firms, with TCS slated to report its results on April 18 and Wipro on April 25
