Even as Infosys CEO Salil Parekh got a 43 per cent hike in his total compensation to Rs 71.02 crore per annum in 2021-22, the company has justified the increase in salary saying the firm has achieved industry-leading growth in recent years. Salil, who was brought in in 2017 after the messy exit of previous CEO Vishal Sikka, has also got an extension and will remain MD & CEO till March 2027.
Parekh’s compensation during 2021-22 included Rs 5.69 crore base salary, Rs 0.38 crore retiral benefits, Rs 12.62 crore bonus and incentives and Rs 52.33 crore in perquisites on account of stock options exercised, according to the annual report.
Justifying the salary, the company in the report said, “Under Salil’s leadership, the company’s total shareholder return (TSR) was an impressive 314 per cent, the highest among peers, and was well above the TSR (in rupee) of benchmark indices of Nifty at 77 per cent and S&P 500 at 117 per cent. The company’s market capitalisation increased during his tenure by Rs 5,77,000 crore ($69 billion). In comparison, during the preceding four-year period, prior to the appointment of Salil, the company’s TSR was 30 per cent as compared to the peers’ median TSR of 47 per cent.”
It also said the company’s revenue growth under Salil’s leadership has accelerated and grown from Rs 70,522 crore (fiscal 2018) to Rs 1,21,641 crore (fiscal 2022), a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 per cent (prior four years CAGR 9 per cent) and the profits have also increased from Rs 16,029 crore to Rs 22,110 crore.
“These results were delivered under the Navigating your Next strategy, led by Salil, comprising Scaling digital revenue, Accelerating the core, localisation and re-skilling, which has resulted in an increased market share in a highly competitive environment. The company has executed its market-differentiating strategy by more than doubling the share of digital revenue from 25.5 per cent (fiscal 2018) to 57 per cent (fiscal 2022) and is now considered a leading digital company with industry analysts rating it as a leader in 32 categories,” the Infosys annual report said.
It also said the company has signed large deals with a total value of $39 billion for the four-year period from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2022. As part of its strategy execution, the company also launched Infosys Cobalt — a set of services, solutions and platforms to accelerate the cloud journey for enterprises.
Under the leadership of Salil since 2017, the strength and stability of leadership across the organisation increased, the number of $100 million clients rose from 20 in FY18 to 38 in FY22, strategic mergers & acquisitions increased, and new capital allocation policy was successfully implemented, among others, the company said. “(These) all (have) been drivers of significant long-term shareholder value creation, under the leadership of Salil.”
The company said Salil has demonstrated successful business and overall performance since his appointment. This growth is accompanied by an increase in the total number of employees from 2,04,107 to 3,14,015 during his tenure.
Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani said, “Our CEO, Salil Parekh, a big champion of the One Infosys approach, brought together all the capabilities and intellectual capital of Infosys to create value and make a disproportionate impact for our clients. This required company-wide orchestration of our strengths, deep collaboration amongst our leaders and synergising of all our business units and service lines. Salil has delivered industry leading performance for the Company, and it is in the interest of the Company and its stakeholders to secure the continuity and stability of the current leadership.”
On his re-appointment as CEO, Nilekani said he is delighted that the board has unanimously recommended to the shareholders to approve the reappointment of Salil Parekh as chief executive officer and managing director till March 31, 2027.
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