Infosys’ stock drops amid fears

   Infosys, a provider of supply chain visibility software, has seen its stock prices drop more than 13 percent over the past week as analysts downgraded it following an outlook report of low revenue growth released on Friday.
   The company reported fourth quarter revenues falling 1.9 percent sequentially but said that its fiscal year 2012 revenues grew overall by 15.8 percent. The company expects its fiscal 2013 revenues to grow by 8 to 10 percent.
   The market expected the company to project a 10 to 15 percent growth rate.
   Infosys said its net income after tax was $463 million for the quarter, ended March 31. The company added 52 clients during the quarter, as well as more than 10,000 employees across its operation.
   For the upcoming quarter ending June 30, the company projects revenues to be between $1.77 and $1.79 billion, a year-over-year growth of 6 to 7.1 percent.
   Infosys, which analyst CLSA called India’s No. 2 export software service provider, has had issues with its operations and a protracted re-organization, CLSA said in a report.
   While some slip-ups have been organizational in nature, there is also a general expectation that India’s software exporters will face a tough year in 2012 due to the global economy, struggles in its domestic import/export operations, and increased U.S. pressure against companies moving jobs to India and elsewhere.
   HSBC Asset Management said for companies like Infosys the key is visibility in the near term. HSBC sees volatility in the United States and Europe, which will lead to a further tightening of IT purse strings.
   India’s outsourcing industry, worth about $100 billion, gets roughly 75 percent of its total revenue from businesses in the United States and Europe. — Geoff Whiting