Infosys Technologies (NASDAQ: INFY) increased its first quarter profits by 17% by tapping new markets and wrangling in 27 new clients, according to the Financial Times. The second-largest software services exporter in India, Infosys even scored some major clients, such as Waitrose, a top-shelf food retailer in the United Kingdom. Tough economic conditions can tend to favor companies that provide outsourcing services -- as well as consulting services with high, easily justifiable returns on investments (ROIs).
Nonetheless, this is a competitive space, and Infosys did caution that IBM (NYSE: IBM), Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) will be formidable global foes. With the announcement, Infosys increased the lower end of its forecast for the year, expecting revenues to fall in the $4.45 billion to $4.52 billion range.
Investors seem to be pretty happy with the company's performance. Shares were up 2.8% on the announcement and are up 53% for the year. And, as Indian software and outsourcing companies begin to carve out their global spaces, they will see the United States as an available market, taking pieces of the pie owned by the major consulting firms. The next six to nine months will be tough, but Infosys will be a long-term success story.
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