Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore.[5] Infosys is the second-largest Indian IT company after Tata Consultancy Services by 2020 revenue figures and the 602nd largest public company in the world according to Forbes Global 2000 ranking.[6] On 31 December 2020, its market capitalisation was $71.92 billion.[7] The credit rating of the company is A− (rating by Standard & Poor's).[8]
History
Infosys was founded by seven engineers in Pune, Maharashtra, India with an initial capital of $250 in 1981.[9] It was registered as Infosys Consultants Private Limited on 2 July 1981.[10] In 1983, it relocated its office to Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
The company changed its name to Infosys Technologies Private Limited in April 1992 and to Infosys Technologies Limited when it became a public limited company in June 1992. It was later renamed to Infosys Limited in June 2011.[11]
An initial public offering (IPO) was floated in February 1993 with an offer price of ₹95 (equivalent to ₹550 or US$7.80 in 2019) per share against a book value of ₹20 (equivalent to ₹120 or US$1.60 in 2019) per share. The IPO was undersubscribed but it was "bailed out" by US investment bank Morgan Stanley, which picked up a 13% equity stake at the offer price.[12] Its shares were listed in June 1993 with trading opening at ₹145 (equivalent to ₹850 or US$12 in 2019) per share.[13]
Its shares were listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 1999 as American depositary receipts. The share price surged to ₹8,100 (equivalent to ₹28,000 or US$390 in 2019) by 1999 making it the costliest share on the market at the time. At that time, Infosys was among the 20 biggest companies by market capitalization on the NASDAQ.[12] The ADR listing was shifted from NASDAQ to NYSE Euronext to give European investors better access to the company's shares.[14]
Infosys, Bangalore
Its annual revenue reached US$100 million in 1999, US$1 billion in 2004 and US$10 billion in 2017.[10]
In 2012, Infosys announced a new office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to serve Harley-Davidson, being the 18th international office in the United States.[15][16] Infosys hired 1,200 United States employees in 2011, and expanded the workforce by an additional 2,000 employees in 2012.[16]
In April 2018 Infosys announced expanding in Indianapolis, Indiana. The development will include more than 120 acres and is expected to result in 3,000 new jobs—1,000 more than previously announced.
In July 2014, Infosys started a product subsidiary called EdgeVerve Systems, focusing on enterprise software products for business operations, customer service, procurement and commerce network domains.[17] In August 2015, the Finacle Global Banking Solutions assets were officially transferred from Infosys and became part of the product company EdgeVerve Systems product portfolio.[18]
Products and services
Infosys provides software development, maintenance and independent validation services to companies in finance, insurance, manufacturing and other domains.[19]
One of its known products is Finacle which is a universal banking solution with various modules for retail and corporate banking.[20]
Glass building in Pune campus
Its key products and services are:
NIA – Next Generation Integrated AI Platform (formerly known as Mana)
Infosys Consulting – a global management consulting service
Infosys Information Platform (IIP) – Analytics platform
EdgeVerve Systems which includes Finacle, a global banking platform
Infosys has 82 sales and marketing offices and 123 development centres across the world as of 31 March 2018, with major presence in India, United States, China, Australia, Japan, Middle East and Europe.[23][24]
In 2019, 60%, 24%, and 3% of its revenues were derived from projects in North America, Europe, and India, respectively. The remaining 13% of revenues were derived from the rest of the world.[25]
In India, shares of Infosys are listed on the BSE where it is a part of the BSE SENSEX and the NSE where it is a NIFTY 50 Constituent.[45] Its shares are listed by way of American depositary receipts (ADRs) at the New York Stock Exchange.[46]
Over a period of time, the shareholding of its promoters has gradually reduced, starting from June 1993 when its shares were first listed. The promoters' holdings reduced further when Infosys became the first Indian-registered company to list Employees Stock Options Schemes and ADRs on NASDAQ on 11 March 1999.[47] The promoter holding on 31 March 2002 was 28.72%[48] and at 30 June 2017 it dropped to 12.75% as they gradually sold their shares and reduced involvement in active management of the company.[49]
Banks, financial institutions and insurance companies
011.24%
Mutual funds
008.97%
Others
003.04%
Total
100.00%
Employees
Infosys had a total of 243,454 employees at the end of December 2019, out of which 37.8% were women.[25] Out of its total workforce, 229,658 are software professionals and remaining 13,796 work for support and sales.[25] In 2016, 89% of its employees were based in India.[52]
During the financial year 2019, Infosys received 2,333,420 applications from prospective employees, interviewed 180,225 candidates and had a gross addition of 94,324 employees, a 4% hiring rate. These numbers do not include its subsidiaries.[52]
The attrition rate of Infosys Ltd., including its subsidiaries, for the financial year 2019 was 21.5%.[52]
Training centre in Mysore
The Development Centre in Mysore campus
As the world's largest corporate university, the Infosys global education centre in the 337 acre[53] campus has 400 instructors and 200+ classrooms,[54] with international benchmarks at its core. Established in 2002, it had trained around 1,25,000 engineering graduates by June 2015.[54] It can train 14,000 employees at a given point of time on various technologies.[55][56]
The Infosys Leadership Institute (ILI), based in Mysuru, has 196 rooms and trains about 4000 trainees (called Infoscions) annually.[56] Its purpose is to prepare and develop the senior leaders in Infosys for current and future executive leadership roles.
The Infosys Training Centre in Mysuru also provides a number of extracurricular facilities like tennis, badminton, basketball, swimming pool and gym.
CEOs
Since its establishment in 1981 till 2014, the CEOs of Infosys were its promoters, with N.R. Narayana Murthy leading the company in its initial 21 years. Dr Vishal Sikka was the first non-promoter CEO of Infosys who worked for around 3 years.[57][58][59] Dr Vishal Sikka resigned in August 2017. In a personal note to board colleagues,[60] Sikka cites a "drumbeat of distractions" and "false, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks" as his reason for leaving Infosys.[61] Many sources suspect this is in reference to a long running feud with Infosys Founders over the new direction Sikka was reportedly taking Infosys.[62][63][64] After his resignation, UB Pravin Rao was appointed as Interim CEO and MD of Infosys.[65] Infosys appointed Salil Parekh chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) of the company with effect from 2 January 2018,[1].[66]
In 2020, Infosys was ranked No. 1 in the HFS Top 10 Agile Software Development 2020 report.[68]
In 2020, Infosys was recognized as a leader in Retail and CPG Digital Services by Avasant.[69][70]
In 2019, Infosys was a winner of the United Nations Global Climate Action Award in 'Climate Neutral Now' category.[71]
In 2019, Infosys was ranked as the 3rd Best Regarded Company in the World by Forbes.[72]
In 2017, HfS Research included Infosys in Winner's Circle of HfS Blueprint for Managed Security Services, Industry 4.0 services and Utility Operations.[73][74][75]
In 2013, Infosys was ranked 18th largest IT services provider in the world by HfS Research.[76] In the same year, it was ranked 53rd in Forbes list of World's Most Innovative Companies.[77]
In 2012, Infosys was ranked No. 19 amongst the world's most innovative companies by Forbes.[78] In the same year, Infosys was in the list of top twenty green companies in Newsweek's Green Rankings for 2012.[79]
In 2006, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India included Infosys into Hall of Fame for being the winner of Best Presented Accounts for 11 consecutive years.[80]
Controversies
Settlement of tax fraud in the US
In December 2019, the Attorney General of California, Xavier Becerra announced an $800,000 settlement against Infosys and its BPM (business process management) subsidiary. Close to 500 Infosys employees were working in the state on Infosys-sponsored B-1 visas instead of H-1B visas between 2006 and 2017, as per an official post available on the website of State of California.[81][82]
This misclassification resulted in Infosys avoiding California payroll taxes such as unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and employment training taxes.[83][84]
Accusation of visa fraud in the US
In 2011, Infosys was accused of committing visa fraud by using B-1 (visitor) visas for work requiring H-1B (work) visas. The allegations were initially made by an American employee of Infosys in an internal complaint. He subsequently sued the company, claiming that he was harassed and sidelined after speaking out. Although that case was dismissed,[85] it along with another similar case,[86][87][88] brought the allegations to the notice of the US authorities – and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a federal grand jury started investigating.[89]
In October 2013, Infosys agreed to settle the civil suit with US authorities by paying US$34 million.[90] Infosys refused to admit guilt and stressed that it only agreed to pay the fine to avoid the nuisance of 'prolonged litigation'.[91] In its statement the company said "As reflected in the settlement, Infosys denies and disputes any claims of systemic visa fraud, misuse of visas for competitive advantage, or immigration abuse. Those claims are assertions that remain unproven".[92]
Displacement of American workers at Southern California Edison and Disney
In 2015, the United States Department of Labor began an investigation of Infosys after claims were made that the company used workers with H-1B visas to replace workers at Disney and Southern California Edison. The investigation did not find any wrongdoing.[93]
Financial Irregularities
In 2019, whistle blowers alleged irregularities in the company's financial accounting. Internal investigations conducted by the company concluded that the allegations were without merit.[94] External auditors said that Infosys' approach to revenue recognition was in line with IAS 34 regulations.[95]
^Preston, Julia (20 August 2012). "Judge dismisses Infosys suit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
19:22
₹102,673 crore (US$14 billion)[2] (2021)
