Infosys: AGM claims, ‘Happy with return of Nandan Nilekani’

The turmoil took place last year, to asking for better rewards for shareholders, Infosys’ 37th Annual General Meeting which occurred on Saturday evening brought peace and harmony while it was raining in most parts of country.

The Annual General Meeting lasted for more than three hours in Bengaluru at the Christ University Auditorium which was completely filled with the shareholders.

Soon after, following the presentations which management presented in front of the audience, the shareholders came up, asking detailed, sometimes examining questions.

Some of them had suggestions as well for the software exporter saying “We wish Infosys can start a global technical university, not just in India but also different parts of the world, for new subjects and technical areas in streams yet to be thought of”.

Nevertheless, almost all of them wanted better rewards for their shareholding.

Questioning the strategy of Infosys to increase shareholder value, one shareholder said steps like the Rs 13,000 crore buyback the company announced last year do not benefit small shareholders.

He further added, “There are six lakh small shareholders. Please look at stock splits. Please look at bonuses, please increase dividends from 75 percent to 100 percent. Small shareholders like me don’t take advantage of your generous buybacks”.

Another shareholder expressed happiness with the return of Nandan Nilekani as the non executive chairman of Infosys’ board last year.

“Our chairman should have never left the company,” he said, adding that now that Nilekani was back, he would steer the company to success.

Where as others were questioning Infosys to consider investing in Bengaluru and Mumbai as part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives, looking at the improvement in the city’s infrastructure conditions.

Another shareholder suggested, “Please see that Karnataka localites who are highly qualified are given preference,” during campus hiring by Infosys.

Also, there were queries over the accession of Panaya and Skava which were explained by the management.

Probably suggesting to the issues faced by Infosys last year, which included a standoff between ex-CEO Vishal Sikka and co-Founder NR Narayan Murthy, one shareholder asked: “Does Infosys have a CEO backup plan?”

Though the highlight of the AGM was Chief Financial Officer MD Ranganath.

One lady identifying Patel who joined the AGM through video conference from Mumbai said that “My most favourite is the CFO”.

It may sound funny but Since last AGM it is observed that Ranganath had put on some weight and on the occasion of AGM Patel batted for a promotion for him and the company secretary AGS Manikantha.

CEO Salil Parekh appreciated the contribution of Ranganath, a bit embarrassed which was visible as both of them were seating next to eachother.

Later, answering questions that were raised, Infosys management said while employee attrition was a concern, high performer attrition was at 9.4 percent, and the company was taking up career development programmes.

Ranga said the research and development spend at Infosys was 0.6 percent of total revenue.

“And one last thing I can confirm is that my weight has indeed gone up,” he concluded, leaving the attendees amused and in gratitude.