Infosys shares plunge 6% in morning trade post low margin guidance for fiscal 2018-19

New Delhi: Shares of Infosys on Monday fell as much as 6 percent in morning trade on bourses after the company reported less-than-expected margin guidance for fiscal year 2018-19.

Shares of the company on Monday opened on a weak note and fell to an intra-day low of Rs 1,099, down 5.98 percent from its previous closing price.

On NSE, the stock fell 5.92 percent to an intra-day low of Rs 1,102.00.

The stock was the biggest contributor to the losses on the Sensex.

Global brokerage Nomura in a research note said “growth weakness in developed markets, BFSI and retail is a negative. We expect the stock to react negative to the margin guidance cut”.

The report further noted that “guidance for FY19 growth is in line with consensus, though a cut in EBI margin guidance to 22-24 percent (as against 23-25 percent earlier) was a disappointment”.

Infosys, on 13 April, reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,690 crore, or Rs 16.98 per share, in January-March 2018 quarter as compared to Rs 3,603 crore, or Rs 15.77 a share in the same period a year back.

For 2018-19, Infosys expects its revenue to grow in the range of 6-8 percent in constant currency terms and 7-9 percent in the US dollar terms. For financial year 2018-19 Infosys expects operating margin range at 22 percent to 24 percent.

The company said its revenues grew 5.6 percent to Rs 18,083 crore in the January-March quarter compared with Rs 17,120 crore in the year-ago period. Net profit was up 11.7 percent at Rs 16,029 crore, while revenues grew 3 percent to Rs 70,522 crore in FY2017-18 over the previous year.