Enterprises in Europe, Indian IT industry?s second-largest geography by revenues, appear to be thawing their IT budgets. Infosys has said its European revenues for the March quarter grew 8% compared to the previous quarter. That is almost twice the rate of North America that grew by 4.4%. This is significant as in the third quarter, Europe had inched up by less than a per cent for Infosys.
The geography contributed 23% of the firm?s FY10 revenues of $4.8 billion. Executives were tight-lipped on whether the growth is a one-time wonder considering that many parts of the continent and the UK are still battling slowdown blues. However, they did mention stabilisation in businesses that is leading to deal ramp-ups.
?Some of the growth has come from the existing clients increasing business with us,? Infosys’ head of European operations BG Srinivas told FE. ?Some of our clients are seeing stabilisation, businesses are taking decisions, and the budgeting process is over,? he added.
Infosys also added new customers ? 10 of the 47 new accounts the firm opened during the fourth quarter came from Europe. ?The growth is coming across sectors ? some transformational wins as well as some project ramp-ups among existing clients,? Srinivas said.
Apart from the continent, the firm is also seeing momentum in the UK, where economic fundamentals continue to be challenging ? unemployment is high and taxation for some income categories have increased. ?It is not good news out there. But on the financial services side, there is some stability. We continue to see traction in capital markets, retail, CPG, telecom, energy and utilities. Recovery should sustain in these categories,? he said.