Shareholders hailed Murthy as the Don Bradman and Visvesvaraya of the IT industry.

Shareholders hailed Murthy as the Don Bradman and Visvesvaraya of the IT industry.

Anshul Dhamija & Shilpa Phadnis, TNN | Jun 17, 2013, 10.57 AM IST

BANGALORE: It was paeans and poetry at Infosys's 32nd annual general meeting held in Bangalore on Saturday. And it kept everybody in good humour. The signature IPL saxophone tune played in the background welcoming NR Narayana Murthy back to his home turf nearly two years after he resigned from the company. Shareholders hailed Murthy as the Don Bradman and Visvesvaraya of the IT industry. Some called him a messiah of good tidings. 

Gundu Rao, a shareholder, said, "We are so happy that NRN is back. When he said thatInfosys was his second child, it is expected of parents to handhold their children for sometime, if they find that their child is in a bit of difficulty. 

And this is nothing unusual in our Indian ethos." Jagadeep D, an employee with Canara Bank, who along with his wife holds 40 shares in Infosys, said that he was overwhelmed with the news of NRN making a comeback. 

"In the last two to three years the company has faltered on growth. When news of Cognizant overtaking Infosys came, there was a clear indication that Infosys was facing some drawbacks and a certain lacuna had been created." 

Hanif Sheikh, a shareholder who had come from Pune, said, "Even though Murthy is 67 chronologically, biologically he's 47. JRD Tata retired at 87, and recently Ratan Tata retired at 75. So NRN is good enough to continue for another 10 to 15 more years." 

But many shareholders were disappointed with the company for its dividend payout of Rs 42 per share for the year, which fell short of last year's Rs 47 per share. 

A shareholder said Infosys's payout traditionally is around 30 % of its net profit compared to 90 % in some other companies. TCS, one said, pays more than Infosys. Shareholders complained that the company had been sitting on cash and not giving bonus shares for the past ten years, nor considering a stock split after 2005. 

Some asked the company's board to consider increasing the dividend payout to 50% of net profit. The company's CFO Rajiv Bansal said that as a policy the company's divided payout does not exceed 30 % of net profit. 

Thirty-year-old software engineer and shareholder Neel questioned whether NRN bringing his son Rohan Murty as executive assistant (EA) was an exception and if other board members could bring in family members as EAs. The question was not answered. 

The 32nd AGM saw 383 shareholders in attendance with 86 shareholders being represented through proxy votes. 

(With inputs from Asfiya Faisal)