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Infosys Performs Well

Infosys touched a high of 2,024 in the intraday trading and closed at 1,980 up 73.80 or 3.87%. The net profit of the company increase by 17%. The Operating margin of the company was at 32.13% an increase of over the previous quarter due to the economy of scale. Infosys is clearly able to outperform competitors like TCS, Satyam, and Wipro. Karvy is giving a target for Infosys at 2500. Foreign investors expect 20% to 25% increase in price. For Infosys 50% of revenue comes from US and 33% Europe. Also it was able to attract more Foutune 500 clients.

The FII invested close to $ 20 million in the Indian market today compared to $ 8 million yesterday. Low oil prices were a reason for the current market rally. But today OPEC decides to cut down on oil production by 1 million barrels per day. This means that the crude oil prices may rise above the $ 60, current brent crude is trading at arround $ 58.27 per barrel.

Sensex today started up with 213 point on back of infosys numbers. At the end down by 10 point to 12,353 steel and motor stocks fell close to 3%.

Earning Season to Start

Most analys are optimistic about the Q'2 earnings after the sensex gained its grounds in the last three months (up 16% for the quarter). The sensex is very close to the May levels after the decline below 10,000. According to study by Motilal Oswal of 127 companies for the next quarter sales projected to increase by 27%, EBIT by 39% and net profit also by 39%.

This quarter's earning season will start with high expectations from Infosys. Technology sector is expected to grow at about 40%. Infosys as projected by CNBC TV 18, is supposed to increase by 7.59% and revenues by 10.53%. Over the last three months Infosys has performed well with growth in share price from Rs. 1500 level to Rs. 1860 latest closing price. With its long reputation and investor expectations infosys still remains the best buy in the IT sector. Mphasis-BFL is close to its 3 month high of 198.40 from lows of arround Rs 130 to Rs. 120.

Auto and steel still looking promising. Expect Mahindra, Maruti, Cement are still strong in terms of valuation after a good run. The FY07 EPS of sensex is supposed to grow by 31% and FY05 by 14%. With crashing crude oil prices and global stock market boom not just in emerging markets but also in developed markets (Dow Jones US at all time high) the outlook for the markets look positive.

Infosys Beats Expectations

Infosys on 12 th july posted yet another stellar quarter of growth well above the earning guidelines provided by the company. The revenues of the company grew by 14.9% and the profits grew by 18.9%. The only disappointment was the operating margin of below 30%. The hike in the salaries for employees and higher cost for visa were the main reasons for the decline of the operating margin by 4.6%. The depreciation of rupees helped improve the Operating margin by 2.2%.

Another main highlight of this quarter was the increase in the other incomes by 77.8% quarter over quarter. The gains from exchange rate stood at Rs. 530 millions compared against the loss of 10 million last quarter.

The future outlook of Infosys looks very good with expected revenues next year between Rs. 134-135 billion reflecting a year over year growth of 41%-42% and a EPS guidance of around Rs. 124 –Rs. 126 reflecting 38% to 40% growth.

Infosys has a EPS of Rs. 90.65 compared to Rs. 57.65 of Tata Consultancy Services. Also Infosys offers a dividend per share of around Rs. 45. vs. Rs. 13.5 of TCS. The book value of Infy around Rs. 250 is also higher compared to Rs. 140 of TCS (last year’s estimates). This makes Infosys a fundamentally strong company for long to medium term investment.