Infosys growth concerns not an industry-wide issue: Zensar

According to Natarajan consumer spending has increased and there are no problems for retail spending for IT in 2014. Infosys ' growth pang seems to be a more company-specific issue and not a industry-wide problem, says Ganesh Natarajan, VC & CEO, Zensar Tech . According to Natarajan consumer spending has increased and there are no problems for retail spending for IT in 2014. “We don’t see problems of project cancellations or ramp downs for the company,” he told CNBC-TV18 If at all, he says there is a bit of a slowdown in the Singapore market but other markets are still going strong. "We have also seen some slowdown in India, however, ours is not a very big market," he says. Below is the transcript of Ganesh Natarajan’s interview to CNBC-TV18’s Ekta Batra and Sonia Shenoy Sonia: Infosys highlighted some challenges in the retail and in the consumer goods segment. Is this just a company specific issue or is there a possibility of this becoming an industry wide slowdown going ahead? A: At this point, I don't see any industry concern. In fact, most of us were there in Nasscom when we talked about a much better spending outlook across most sectors of the economy. And if you look at the growth in the US, Europe and Africa, which tend to be key markets for many of us, particularly Zensar, we are seeing robust spending. So I won't worry too much at all. In fact, the spending both in traditional areas—what we call systems of record—and new areas like social media, mobility cloud, which is the systems of engagement, are both going to be strong. I personally think that in terms of volume growth, as well as in terms of new projects, FY15 will be a very good year for the industry. Ekta: In your sense then how is the retail as well as the consumer packaged goods segment doing within the IT space? : It is always a lag effect in the sense that if there is confidence in the economy then the consumer spending is obviously more and I think the consumers are I can tell you from the experience in Europe, UK, US and Africa, definitely consumers are spending more and that will automatically mean more manufacturing, that would automatically mean more investment in technology. It also means if you look at what they call cyber Monday which is where people frenetically shop on the internet that was also pretty good in 2013. So, given that the spending not only on new areas of IT but also in the new areas of engagement with customers will go up. Overall, I don't see a problem in calendar 2014 or FY15 for the retail spending in the IT sector. Zensar Tech stock price On March 13, 2014 Zensar Technologies closed at Rs 372.25, down Rs 12.45, or 3.24 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 429.80 and the 52-week low was Rs 180.90. The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 35.89 per share as per the quarter ended December 2013. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 10.37. The latest book value of the company is Rs 110.80 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 3.36