Infosys says outlook bad despite profit boost

Indian outsourcer Infosys managed a small increase in profits for the first quarter but warned that the outlook for the full year is still bad.

For the first quarter ended 30 June 2009 India's second largest outsourcer made revenues of $1.122bn compared to $1.155bn in the same quarter last year. But net profit was up slightly from $308m last year to $313m this year.

It expects revenue for the next quarter, ending 30 September, to drop between 7 per cent and 8.7 per cent to between $1.11bn and $1.13bn.

For the full year ending 30 March 2010, Infosys expects revenues of between $4.45bn and $4.52bn, a fall of between 3.1 per cent and 4.6 per cent.

The results were not improved by currency movements - the rupee gained strength against the dollar during the period.

Infosys chief executive S Gopalakrishnan said the economic environment remained challenging for the firm and its clients. ®