Indian IT major Infosys Technologies said on Friday that its third quarter profit rose a better-than-expected 28 per cent to Rs 328 crore ($72.1 million), or Rs 48.5 per diluted share.

Income from software development services and products was pegged at Rs. 1,235.26 crore (Rs 12.35 billion) for the third quarter ended December 31, 2003, an increase of 28.86 per cent over comparable income for the corresponding quarter in the previous year

Earnings per share from ordinary activities increased to Rs 49.43 from Rs 38.70 for the corresponding quarter in the previous year, an increase of 27.73 per cent.

Infosys said it added 30 new clients during the quarter and there was gross addition of 3,666 employees for the quarter for Infosys and its subsidiary, Progeon Ltd.

"We have added several high-quality clients in the high-tech and financial services sectors, in addition to leading communication service providers," said Basab Pradhan, head (world-wide sales) and senior vice president. "We see this as a result of the market's continuing interest in offshore services, and also, some of our successful business solutions and alliances."

Today the total employee strength of Infosys and Progean stands at 23,209.

"We have reorganised Infosys to face new challenges -- increased expectations from clients, a fast-changing economy and a new competitive scenario," said Nandan M. Nilekani, CEO, president and managing director.

"We have enhanced our focus on vertical markets and on providing business solutions leveraging technology, using our Global Delivery Model, " added Nilekani.

The outlook for the quarter ending March 31, 2004 includes targetting net revenues to be in the range of $290 million to $293 million and expecting consolidated earnings per American Depositary Share touching $0.55.

The outlook for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2004 includes projection of net inflows to be in the range of $ 1,050 million to $ 1,053 million, while expecting the consolidated earnings per American Depositary Share to be $2.02, the release added.

"The acquisition of Expert Information Systems Pty Limited, Australia is complete and we are working towards a seamless integration," said S Gopalakrishnan, COO, Infosys, adding, "This will accelerate our market penetration in Australia and provide enhanced value to our clients."

The acquisition of Expert Information Services Pty Limited, Australia was completed on January 2, 2004. The acquired company has been renamed as Infosys Technologies (Australia) Pty Limited and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Infosys.

Infosys said work on the software development centre for 200 professionals in Shanghai is progressing well. The China subsidiary will be offering end-to-end software services to domestic as well as multinational companies operating in China. It will also serve as a hub for software services in the Asia Pacific region.