Infosys tanks 6 per cent on lower margin guidance

New Delhi: Shares of Infosys on Monday fell as much as 6 per cent 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 per cent from its previous closing price. On NSE, the stock fell 5.92 per cent 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 per cent (as against 23-25 per cent earlier) was a disappointment".

Infosys, on April 13, 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 per cent in constant currency terms and 7-9 per cent in the US dollar terms. For financial year 2018-19 Infosys expects operating margin range at 22 per cent to 24 per cent.

The company said its revenues grew 5.6 per cent 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 per cent at Rs 16,029 crore, while revenues grew 3 per cent to Rs 70,522 crore in FY2017-18 over the previous year.