Infy to finalise Rs 13k-cr capital allocation policy

Infosys on Saturday said it is in the process of finalising Rs 13,000-crore capital allocation policy to shareholders.

The company Chairman R Seshasayee said Infosys is committed to executing the capital allocation policy announced on April 13, in a timely manner.

While completely avoiding the fight between promoter shareholders and the company management, at the 36th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company, he said Infosys is committed to executing the capital allocation policy announced on April 13, 2017 in a timely manner. He, however, did not elaborate as to how and when the allocated money will be spent.

“As envisaged in the capital allocation policy, the company has identified an amount of up to Rs 13,000 crore to be paid out to shareholders during fiscal 2018. As the company has a large shareholder base and is listed in multiple countries, the manner of distribution to shareholders requires compliance with laws of several jurisdictions,” he said.

Seshasayee also pointed out that the company is in the process of finalising distribution mechanism that complies with the applicable regulatory requirement in the best interest of all shareholders.

Commenting on the business environment, he said even though the company made progress navigating through 2017, it was not without challenges posed by the external environment.
“Growing commoditisation of our traditional business, rapidly spreading protectionism and escalating demand from clients for more value for their technology investments, have all combined to make the business environment extremely challenging,” he said.

Lauding Sikka’s leadership, Seshasayee said the management team has strived to bring technology-enabled efficiencies to clients problem-solving.

“Our endeavour was to deliver our traditional services through a people plus software model so that our engineers can focus on higher value work and on innovating for our clients,” he said.

Seshasayee said although the CEO compensation revision that was effected in April, it was implemented only after all necessary disclosures and after 98.7% shareholders voted for it. “This is the first time that Infosys has outlined a policy on Executive Leadership Compensation in such great detail,” he said.

Reiterating his strategy to make Infosys an iconic bellwether company, Sikka said his vision is to transform the company from reactive problem solver culture to proactive problem finders.
Sikka said, while talking to N R Narayana Murthy last year he was asked what he is working on. “I said we should transform from reactive problem solver culture to proactive problem finders. It is the precise and concise way of putting what we really are doing. That is what we are working on and wanted to work on,” he said.