Infosys CEO Salil Parekh on Saturday said the company is well-positioned to gain market share as it continues to focus on services such as cloud and advanced automation.
Parekh was addressing Infosys shareholders at the 42nd annual general meeting (AGM) on Saturday. At the meeting, Infosys sought shareholders’ nod for the re-appointment of Parekh for another five years as its managing director and CEO, beginning July 1.
Parekh has been leading Infosys since January 2018. Before joining Infosys, Parekh was a member of the group executive board at Capgemini, where he held several leadership positions for 25 years.
However, Parekh will take a massive 88 per cent jump in annual remuneration to Rs 79.75 crore — making him one of the highest-paid executives in the country. Parekh, 58, took home a salary of Rs 71.02 crore in the fiscal year ended March 31.
This included Rs 52.33 crore from exercising RSUs (restricted stock units) granted to him earlier. The company also sought shareholders’ approval for the revised remuneration at the AGM.
Last month, Infosys had justified the hike citing industry-leading growth in recent years. Speaking to the shareholders earlier, Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and chairman of Infosys, said the company gave capital return of over Rs 24,100 crore in 2021-22 with a total dividend of Rs 31 per share along with share buyback of over Rs 11,000 crore.
He further pointed out that the previous fiscal was one of exceptional growth — 19.7 percent in constant currency —bringing in $16.3 billion, which is the fastest growth that it has recorded in 11 years.
Nilekani added that including the recommendation of a final dividend of Rs 16per share by its board, and the interim dividend of Rs 15 per share, the total dividend for the year stands at Rs 31 per share.
“With this, the company has announced a total dividend of approximately Rs13,000 crore for 2021-22. Along with the share buyback of over Rs 11,000 crore completed in September, the total capital return in 2021-22 is over Rs24,100 crore,” he added.
On Parekh, Nilekani said, “Salil has delivered industry-leading performance for the company, and it is in the interest of Infosys and its stakeholders to secure the continuity and stability of the current leadership.
“Salil brings with him a proven track record of driving digital transformation for enterprises, executing business turnarounds, and managing acquisitions successfully.”
Both Nilekani and Parekhhighlighted the success attained by Infosys on the digital services front. They pointed out that the company has a good view of how to drive the margins forward.
