Infosys shares staged a modest comeback on the stock exchanges on Wednesday, reversing three days of losses even as a former CFO spoke in favour of co-founder Nandan Nilekani’s return to the helm of the company as chairman.
In an interview to news agency PTI, V Balakrishnan said,”Nilekani is a good face to have… I personally think if at all he comes back, he should come in as the chairman and try to identify a good CEO. That will be ideal situation,” the agency quoted him as saying.
The agency also said that the former CFO was in favour of the current non-executive chairman ( R Seshasayee) and co-chairman (Ravi Ventakesan) exiting the board, effectively seeking a revamp of the board’s composition.
Besides, institutional investors of the Bengaluru-based software services exporter also want Nilekani back at the helm at a time when the company is presumably going through its worst crisis in its 36-year-old existence.
Vishal Sikka, who resigned as MD & CEO of the company last Friday, is currently the executive vice-chairman while Pravin Rao is the interim CEO and MD.
The company’s independent directors include Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Roopa Kudva, Dr Punita Kumar Sinha, D N Prahlad, D Sundaram, Ravi Venkatesan, Jeffry Sean Lehman and Prof John W Etchemendy.
The Nilekani buzz lifted the share price of Infosys to cross Rs 900 briefly during the day before it closed at Rs 894.50, a gain of 1.98 percent.
The BSE Sensex ended 276 points higher at 31,568 while the NSE Nifty closed at 9,852, up 87 points. Top index gainers were Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers of Indian equities worth Rs 1,157 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional data released by the NSE.
Select stocks hit new 52-week highs on Wednesday; these included Bharti Airtel, Chambal Fertilisers, HPCL, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Avenue Supermarts and Future Lifestyle.
The Indian rupee closed 5 paise lower at 64.10 to the US dollar on Wednesday.
In related news, Quess Corp announced on Tuesday the appointment of four new senior executives. “Amit Satpathy has been appointed as the CEO of Terrier Security Services (India) Pvt Ltd (an Associate of Quess Corp Limited). Additionally, Anand Ramakrishnan has been appointed as the CEO of the Infrastructure Managed Services Business. The leadership team has been further strengthened with the appointment of Neel Nahata, who joined in as the Vice President of Finance and Vinay Rao, who has been appointed as the Head of Marketing and Communications,” the company said in a statement.
Amit Satpathy will be responsible for driving the Business Development and transformation strategy of Terrier Security Services (India) Pvt Ltd. This security service firm is in the process of repositioning itself from a Manned Guarding based Business to a Technology centric Security Business. In addition to the above, and to ensure a more integrated Customer facing approach, Amit is also being entrusted with the responsibility of leading the Go-To-Market transformation of the Integrated Facility Management Business of Quess Corp Limited. Prior to joining us, Amit served as the Senior Vice President at Vodafone where he was responsible for the Company’s Enterprise Sales, Marketing and Commercial Operations.
Anand Ramakrishnan has been roped in to start the new line of business related to Infrastructure Management Services for Quess Corp Limited. In his most recent prior role, Anand served as the Chief Strategy Officer at CMS IT Services Pvt. Ltd. His responsibilities included driving the enterprise strategy and expanding new-age businesses such as Managed Security Services, Applications and CMS in the global market.
Commenting on the appointments, CMD and CEO Mr. Ajit Isaac said, “We are pleased to announce the new appointments which will strengthen our leadership team and reinforce our position as an Integrated Business Services Provider. “
Neel Nahata is a Chartered Accountant by qualification and has close to two decades of experience in the field of Business Finance. His specializations include Pricing, Risk Management, Internal Control system design as well as Financial Planning and Analysis. Before joining us, Neel served as the AVP of Business Finance at Sasken Technologies Limited. His professional journey also includes a stint at Festo where he served as the Finance Manager.
Vinay Rao brings with him over 16 years of experience in various aspects of Marketing Communications, Advertising and Marketing Support. In his most recent prior role in Hinduja Global Solutions, Vinay served as the DGM of the Company’s Marketing and Communications division where he spearheaded various Global initiatives including Advertising campaigns, Media Relations, Brand Ambassador Management, Product launches and Online Marketing.
An integrated business services provider, Quess Corp has a presence with 65 offices across 34 cities along with overseas footprint in North America, the Middle East and South East Asia, serving about 1,700 customers across four segments.
