One of the surprises in Infosys? FY12 performance has been Europe. The geography, reeling under macro-economic challenges, grew 22% year-on-year, compared to 17.6% in FY11, thanks to its strategy of providing country specific services.

Sequentially too, the region grew 0.8%, while major markets like North America declined by 4.1%. Despite the ongoing challenges, the IT major is optimistic of its growth in the region and expects to grow faster than rest of the company in FY13.

?There are no easy solutions, but we will still see business growth in the region as spend continues and the pipeline looks stable,? said B G Srinivas, board member and head of Europe, Infosys.

?There are investments in optimisation, simplification and shared services in areas like financial services, retail and pharma in the UK,? said Srinivas, adding that the company will continue to invest in the continent this year including expansion of its existing facilities, near-shore centres and local hiring. However, the IT major didn?t specify the number of local hires?this year. ?

Infosys has over 6,000 employees across Europe. The company plans to expand its Switzerland centre sometime mid year both in headcount and office area.?

?The strategy that has paid for us in the last few years in Europe is not just focusing on industry vertical but also country specific services. Localisation is the key. Our investments in building local capabilities in UK, Germany, France and Switzerland paid for us. We expanded our near-shore centres in Czech Republic and Poland. These steps have started to yield results,? said Srinivas. ??????

During the fourth-quarter ended March, Infosys added five new clients, in the continent. Typically deal sizes in Europe are smaller compared to the US. In FY12 the company had two mega deals, one each in the manufacturing and financial services sector. The deals were over $400 million, stretching across a five-year period.

For Infosys, in Europe, 50% of its revenue comes from the UK. With 18 offices across the continent, Germany and France is Infosys? largest market outside UK. It also has presence in Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and the Nordic region.? With companies in Europe looking for expansion in emerging markets, cost optimisation, growing internal processes, the IT major is confident of expanding its footprint in the region and seeing better business opportunities despite the ongoing crisis. However, the company reckoned that IT spends would be flat or muted in the coming quarters.