Infosys, a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, delivered strong FY21 performance with 5 per cent CC growth, and growth accelerating to 9.6 per cent in Q4, in the face of a turbulent economic environment.
Large deal TCV for FY21 peaked to an all-time high of $14.1 billion with 66 per cent being net new.
Operating margin for the year expanded by 3.2 per cent and Free Cash Flows increased by 38.5 per cent.
The Board has recommended capital return of ₹15,600 crore (app. $2.08 billion) including final dividend of ₹6,400 crore (app. $0.85 billion) and open market buyback of shares of ₹9,200 crore (app. $1.23 billion).
“I am very pleased with our performance this year and incredibly proud of our employees for the passion and commitment they displayed despite a very tough environment. We have crossed a milestone of `100,000 crore in revenue in FY21.
“Our intense focus on client relevance, growing our digital portfolio with differentiated capabilities like Infosys CobaltTM, and empowering employees have helped us emerge as a preferred ‘partner-of-choice’ for our global clients.
“Our record large deal stands testimony to the effectiveness of this approach,” Infosys CEO and MD Salil Parekh.
“A strong momentum exiting FY21, alongside a focused strategy to accelerate client digital journeys, gives us confidence for a stronger FY22,” he added.
In Q4, Infosys continued to expand its digital capabilities, especially with the Infosys CobaltTM cloud portfolio. The company announced a partnership with LivePerson for Conversational AI to help brands manage AI-powered conversations with consumers and employees.
Powered by NVIDIA DGX A100 systems, the company also built its own applied AI cloud to provide employees simple and fast access to AI infrastructure, expanding their ability to drive AI-driven transformation for enterprises.
During the quarter, Infosys was also recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2021 by Ethisphere Institute, US and was ranked #30 on WSJ’s 2021 list of 100 most sustainably managed companies in the world.
“Despite the disruptions, we continue to execute seamlessly with broad-based momentum across verticals. This has led to healthy volume growth and record utilization in a seasonally soft quarter,” COO Pravin Rao said.
“While our employees continue to work from home through this health crisis, we remain focused on their wellness, including facilitating vaccination rollout for eligible employees. Attrition has picked up, largely reflecting a strong demand environment, but we remain confident of our employee engagement initiatives, vast talent pool and training capabilities to ensure seamless execution,” he added.
“FY21 was a landmark year with superior shareholder returns backed by robust operating metrics and strong growth across revenue, margins and free cash flows,” CFO Nilanjan Roy said.
“Executing on our capital allocation policy, the company proposes to increase the total dividend per share by 54 per cent over previous year and Buyback of Equity shares of up to ₹9,200 crore,” he added.
Earlier, the board in its meeting approved the buyback of equity shares, from the open market route through the Indian stock exchanges, amounting to ₹9,200 crore at a price not exceeding ₹1,750 per share subject to shareholders’ approval in the ensuing AGM.
The board also recommended a final dividend of ₹15 per share for FY 21. Together with the interim dividend of ₹12 per share already paid, the total dividend per share for FY 21 will amount to ₹27 which is a 54 per cent increase over FY 20. With this, the company has announced a total dividend of ₹11,500 crore for FY21.