India's Infosys posts strong revenue, profit growth

India's second largest outsourcer, Infosys Technologies announced Wednesday that it had robust growth in revenue and profits for the quarter ended Dec. 31 last year, as business for new services picked up.

The company's revenue for the quarter was $559 million up by 32.2 percent from revenue of $423 million in the same quarter in the previous year. The company's net income rose 27.7 percent to $143 million from $112 million in the same quarter in the previous year.

The results are based on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and refer to the third quarter of Infosys' fiscal year which runs to March 31 this year.

A report released in December by management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) in Delhi was upbeat about the prospects for India’s outsourcing industry. India can sustain its global leadership position in offshoring, and grow its IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries at an annual rate of over 25 percent to generate export revenues of about $60 billion by 2010, the report said.

The company had a net addition of 3,226 employees during the quarter, taking the total number of employees to 49,422 as of December 31, 2005. The company also added 36 new clients during the quarter, taking the total number of clients to 454.

During the current quarter, Infosys expects its revenue at between $582 million and $584 million, while revenue for its full year ending March 31 is expected to reach $2.14 billion, up nearly 35 percent compared to the previous year.