Infosys seeing large deals but momentum slows

By Sumeet Chatterjee

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies Ltd is pursuing five to six outsourcing deals each worth $50 million to $200 million but the global economic downturn has slowed deals, its chief financial officer said.

"Even now we are pursuing some of the large deals," V. Balakrishnan told Reuters in a phone interview on Friday. "The problem is the velocity of business is getting hurt because of the environment."

Nasdaq-listed Infosys, India's second-largest software services exporter, designs supply chains, develops applications and offers back-office services.

It gets more than half its revenue from the United States but is expanding to Europe and elsewhere.

"Customers are more cautious now. They want to conserve cash," Balakrishnan said, adding the company has, however, not seen existing outsourcing projects getting cancelled.

He said companies that were doing 10 projects earlier were now doing only three or four, while some were postponing plans.

India's large pool of English-speaking engineering workers and cheaper wages have helped to attract outsourcing from western firms such as Citigroup, ABN AMRO, Nortel, Goldman Sachs and Airbus.

But the economic slowdown in the United States, which accounts for more than half of the sector's export revenue, and turmoil in the global financial sector have halted its scorching pace of growth and battered stocks.