Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday expressed confidence that Special Economic Zones (SEZ) of IT gaints Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and one more company will be operational by 2017 in Indore. The SEZs of the three companies were notified in 2013.

"For SEZs of TCS, Infosys and Impetus, the state government has issued all no objection certificates. I had talks with representatives of the three companies and they have assured that their units will be operational by 2017," State Information Technology Minister Bhupendra Singh, told reporters.

As companies are moving towards automation, Infosys Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vishal Sikka on Wednesday said there would be temporary replacement of jobs and lower information technology (IT) costs.

Sikka, who was speaking as a panelist in a session on ‘Inclusive Growth in the Digital Age’ at the World Economic Forum here, said the companies should move towards automation as it would be better in terms of cost.

Under its new management team, Infosys exhibited predictability in revenue growth and operational performance for the second quarter running. While we believe revenue growth revival will be gradual, we are enthused by: (i) strategic clarity around re-inventing its core offerings and using innovation to drive traction in newer technologies;(ii) likely better cash utilisation/return after Q4. Given our positive stance on sector demand and comfort on the management, we retain our Buy and TP (target price) of R2,220.

The earnings of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for the quarter ended December last year met industry estimates but failed to impress analysts, unlike the earnings of its peer, Infosys.

TCS’ net profit and revenue narrowly missed the Bloomberg consensus estimates of Rs 5,493 crore and Rs 24,534 crore, respectively. The company paid 100 per cent variable pay, which might have hit its profit for the quarter.

The BSE Sensex and Nifty on Friday rose for a consecutive session, paring a weekly loss, as Infosys, the country's second-largest software exporter reported profit that beat estimates and global stocks rallied.

Infosys rallied the most in three months after the company maintained its annual sales forecast. The stock now has the highest weighting on the Sensex, up from a third place on Thursday.

Infosys's earnings for the quarter ended December 2014 have surprised the Street, with a marked improvement in many parameters - volume growth (growth in billed man-hours in a quarter), profit margin and employee utilisation. However, the growth in revenues was largely in line with a seasonally weak quarter, one with many holidays and client furlough.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and promoters reduced their holding in tech major Infosys during the December quarter.

The promoter holding declined by 300 basis points (bps) to 13.08 after four promoters sold stake worth $1.1 billion in December. FII holding also reduced by 109 bps to 41.58 per cent.

Promoters and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have reduced their stake in information technology (IT) major Infosys during the third quarter (Oct-Dec) of the current fiscal.

Total promoter holding in Infosys has declined by nearly 300 basis points to 13.8% at the end of the third quarter from 15.92% in the second quarter ended September 30, 2014. FIIs shareholding in the software giant has decreased by 109 basis points to 41.58% from 42.67% in past three months.

Infosys Technologies, the country’s second largest information technology (IT) services company, might lower its revenue growth forecast (‘guidance’) for 2014-15 when it details the earnings for the October-December 2014 quarter (Q3 of FY15) on Friday.

Persistent cross-currency headwinds, coupled with seasonal weakness, are seen to be weighing on the performance. The Bengaluru-based company had earlier pegged revenue growth for FY15 at seven to nine per cent.

Infosys, the country’s second-largest IT services exporter, is likely to lower its revenue guidance for FY15 — largely due to the impact of cross-currency movements while managing to hold on to the operating profit margins in the October-December period, which is seasonally a weak quarter for the software exporters, according to brokerage houses.

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