Indian IT services provider Infosys said a business revamp initiated by its first non-founder boss helped it win more large deals in the first quarter, fuelling a five per cent rise in net profit.

Shares of Infosys surged 11 per cent after the announcement, in which the Bengaluru-based company raised its closely watched US dollar-denominated revenue estimate for the year, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Infosys, a bellwether for India’s $150 billion IT services industry, has in recent years struggled to innovate and retain market share due to a staff exodus that also hurt its ability to win big deals.

Under chief executive Vishal Sikka, brought in about a year ago to chart a new strategy, Infosys has made bets on automation and other high-margin services such as artificial intelligence and digital technology to regain ground lost to rivals including leader Tata Consultancy Services.

“Efforts in redesigning our clients’ experience and our widespread adoption of innovation, both in grassroots and breakthroughs, are 
starting to bear fruit in large deal wins and in the growth of large clients,” Sikka said in a statement. Infosys said it added 79 clients in April-June, taking its total to 987.

Client wins included a multi-year contract from a major German bank for application maintenance services, digital and mobility services, package implementation, and testing services.

Infosys also said it kept its rupee-denominated revenue growth view for the business year through March at a range of 10 per cent to 12 per cent.

But it raised its outlook in dollar terms to 7.2 per cent to 9.2 per cent, from 6.2 per cent to 8.2 per cent.

For April-June, Infosys said order growth rose 5.4 per cent from three months prior, the most in nearly five years. That was bolstered by a surge in demand in the US, its biggest market, where the company is also listed.

Infosys, which provides IT services to firms such as Apple, Volkswagen AG and WalMart Stores, posted 30.30 billion rupees ($475.85 million) in net profit in the quarter.

That beat the 28.86 billion rupees of a year earlier, and roughly matched the 30.20 billion rupees average estimate of 27 analysts.

Revenue rose 12.4 per cent to 143.54 billion rupees, Infosys said.

Staff attrition, or the number of employees leaving or retiring, was 14.2 per cent, from 23.4 per cent a year earlier. - TradeArabia News Service