BANGALORE, Oct 6: The net profit of Infosys Technologies Ltd (ITL) for the half-year ending September 30, 1997, has surged by 63.22 per cent to Rs 23.03 crore compared to Rs 14.11 crore during the corresponding period last year. The operating profit has risen to Rs 35.03 crore (Rs 21.03 crore), reflecting a growth rate of 67 per cent.

The company has, however, struck a note of caution while announcing its results on Monday. Said NR Narayana Murthy, chairman and managing director: ``While the half-yearly performance has been exceptionally good, it is unlikely that the growth in revenue will be maintained in the second half.''ITL's total income went up 74.37 per cent during the first half to Rs 107.69 crore against Rs 61.76 crore in the year-ago period.

Continued on Page 2 The export income nearly doubled to Rs 102.93 crore from Rs 51.56 crore earlier.

The board of directors of the company has proposed an interim dividend of Rs 1.50 per share on a pro-rata basis. The company's bottomline suffered an additional depreciation of Rs 0.52 crore during the period on account of revision of the useful life of furniture and fixtures, plant and machinery and vehicles from six to five years.

ITL has also decided to defer the recognition of a sum of Rs 0.40 crore as the revenue from annual technical services (ATS), which has been accounted for on a pro-rata basis over the period in which the services have been rendered.

According to company officials, the growth in revenue has been mainly due to the high per-capita revenue productivity achieved from on-site delivery of project initiation of several projects. ``The next half will see flatter revenue growth rates because most of these projects will move to India and subsequently the per capita revenue productivity will be lower,'' said a company official.

The company's banking product, Bancs 2000, did not make much headway in the country due to slow growth in the automation of banks. Exports of the same, however, saw substantial growth.

Following the conversion of 7,49,000 warrants under the Employee Stock Offer Plan, the paid-up capital of ITL rose to Rs 8.01 crore from Rs 7.26 crore. The company's board has also alloted bonus shares to overseas investors this month after getting the required approvals from the Reserve Bank.

The company opened new software centres in Pune and Chennai during the first half and is also planning to acquire land near its Bangalore facility for further expansion.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.