Infosys Chief Aims to Boost Sales From Europe, Emerging Markets

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Infosys Technologies Ltd., India’s second-largest software-services provider, plans to raise its share of sales from Europe and emerging markets by half as U.S. clients cut spending and lawmakers seek tougher hiring rules.

Europe’s proportion of company revenue will swell to 40 percent from 30 percent and the share from emerging markets will double to 20 percent, Chief Executive Officer S. Gopalakrishnan said. The U.S.’s share will shrink to 40 percent from 60 percent.

Gopalakrishnan, 54, plans to shift the focus from Infosys’s biggest market after the global recession prompted the company to forecast its first annual sales decline. A bill moved by senators Dick Durbin and Chuck Grassley may deny Infosys access to lower-cost workers in the U.S.

“There is a pressing need” to generate a greater share of revenue from outside the U.S., Gopalakrishnan said yesterday in an interview in Bangalore, where Infosys is based. “The worst happening is that the bill is passed.” The company is also looking to make an acquisition in a non-English-speaking developed market to boost sales by 10 percent, he said.

The proposed H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act may place restrictions on Indian software companies sending workers to the U.S. to install and maintain software.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein said in April the U.S. should resist the “potentially dangerous trend” of protectionism. Changes to immigration laws will constrain the New York-based investment bank’s ability to hire foreign workers, he said at the time.

2010 Revival?

“There is a reaction to what is happening today, the job losses and things like that,” Gopalakrishnan said. “If the worst happens, of course all of us are going to be impacted.”

Infosys, which provides computer services and back-office support to General Electric Co., Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs and other customers, doesn’t see a revival in demand until mid-2010, Gopalakrishnan said on May 29.

Revenue in the year ending March 31 will fall at least 3.1 percent to $4.52 billion, the company said in April. Clients remain tentative about spending decisions, Gopalakrishnan said.

Infosys declined 12 percent in Mumbai trading in the last 12 months to yesterday’s close, compared with a 4.2 percent drop in the benchmark Sensitive Index. The stock fell 2.8 percent to close at 1,641.5 rupees yesterday.

The software provider started diversifying its sales to territories outside the U.S. 10 years ago, Gopalakrishnan said.