Infosys Q1 profit up 17 pct, beats forecast

BANGALORE, July 10 (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies Ltd (INFY.BO), India's No. 2 software services exporter, reported a 17.2 percent rise in quarterly profit, beating market expectations, as it boosted sales in newer markets.

The Nasdaq-listed firm (INFY.O), which develops applications, designs supply chains and offers back-office services, said net profit rose to 15.27 billion rupees ($314 million) in April-June, its fiscal first quarter, from 13.02 billion a year ago.

A Reuters poll had estimated a net profit of 13.97 billion rupees for Infosys, which counts Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Philips Electronics (PHG.AS), BT Group Plc (BT.L) and Australia's top phone company Telstra Corp (TLS.AX) among its clients.

Powered by an army of low-cost, English-speaking workers, India's $60 billion outsourcing sector provides services ranging from managing complex computer networks and call centres to software coding to maintaining technology operations.

The industry's leading customers are struggling to stay afloat, have gone bankrupt, or are tackling severe cost cuts, leaving little room to boost technology spending.

Infosys, rivals Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.BO) and Wipro (WIPR.BO) also face competition from big players, IBM (IBM.N), Accenture (ACN.N) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) who have raided their home-turf and are winning contracts.

Shares in Infosys, valued at more than $20 billion, climbed 34 percent in April-June versus a 44 percent rise in the sector index .BSEIT and a 49 percent jump in the main index .BSESN. ($1 = 48.7 rupees) (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan and Anshuman Daga)