BENGALURU: Infosys, India's second-largest IT firm, today reported a 13 per cent growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,250 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, on higher volume and improved utilisation rates.
The company's net profit stood at Rs 2,875 crore in the same period last year.
The Bengaluru-based firm's consolidated revenues in October-December quarter rose 5.9 per cent to Rs 13,796 crore from Rs 13,026 crore in the year-ago period, the company said.
"We are excited by several breakthrough results in Q3. Our 'renew and new' strategy is being received well by our clients and our ecosystem and we are already seeing its early adoption," Infosys CEO and Managing Director Vishal Sikka said.
He added that based on its strong performance, the company is intensifying efforts to deepen employee engagement and client ecosystem.
Reacting to the results, the shares surged 5.3 per cent in afternoon trade to Rs 2,079.45 apiece.
The company's net profit was higher 4.9 per cent from Rs 3,096 crore in July-September 2014 quarter, while revenue grew 3.4 per cent from Rs 13,342 crore in the second quarter of fiscal 2014-15.
"Our sequential revenue growth in Q3 was adversely impacted to the extent of 1.8 per cent due to US dollar appreciation against other major currencies," Infosys CFO Rajiv Bansal said.
He added that the company made required investments keeping in mind short-term priorities and long-term aspirations.
In dollar terms, Infosys posted 12.7 per cent jump in net profit to USD 522 million, while revenue was up 5.6 per cent to USD 2.21 billion in the third quarter.
The company added 13,154 employees (gross) during the quarter taking its total headcount to 1,69,638 people at the end of December 2014.
Infosys and its subsidiaries added 59 clients (gross) during the quarter.
On a net level, the company added 4,227 people during the third quarter of current fiscal.
Attrition level inched higher to 20.4 per cent in the reported quarter compared to 20.1 per cent in September 2014 quarter and 18.1 per cent in October-December 2013 quarter.
Utilisation rates grew to 75.7 per cent (including trainees) and 82.7 per cent (excluding trainees) in the said quarter.
This is the highest utilisation rate (excluding trainees) in 11 years, Infosys said.
North America geographically grew by 2.1 per cent sequentially, while Europe declined by 2.1 per cent and India grew by 14 per cent sequentially.
Rest of the world geography declined by 2.3 per cent sequentially.
North Americas contributed 61.6 per cent of the quarter's revenues, while Europe, India and Rest of the World (RoW) markets accounted for 24 per cent, 2.5 per cent and 11.9 per cent, respectively.
Liquid assets including cash and cash equivalents, available-for-sale financial assets, certificates of deposits and government bonds were at Rs 34,873 crore as on December 31, 2014 compared to Rs 33,616 crore as on September 30, 2014.
The company has decided to expand its Innovation Fund from the current USD 100 million to USD 500 million to support the creation of a global eco-system of strategic partners.
Infosys has also pledged Rs 254 crore for FY'15, towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which is primarily being carried out through the Infosys Foundation, its philanthropic arm.
This is probably the first time that Infosys has announced its results during market hours, as against the earlier practice of doing it before market opening.
The company has always been among the first to release quarterly results.
TCS and WIPRO will come out with their quarterly results next week.