Bangalore, July 10 - The meltdown has finally caught up with IT bellwether Infosys Technologies, forcing it to marginally lower its quarterly and annual revenue guidance for the first time even as it managed to stay afloat in the first quarter this fiscal.

Infosys saw its revenues decline 2.9 percent to Rs.54.72 billion (Rs.5,472 crore) in the first quarter, from Rs.56.35 billion (Rs.5,635 crore) in the fourth quarter last fiscal.

Based on this, Infosys has projected a year-on-year (YoY) decline of 1.9-0.1 percent in the second quarter to Rs.53.18-54.13 billion (Rs.5,318-5,413 crore), as per the Indian accounting standard.

'We believe that in the short-term, the global economic environment will continue to be challenging. We are working closely with our clients to help them navigate the downturn,' Infosys chief executive S. Gopalakrishnan said in a statement Friday here.

With currency volatility impacting operations, the software major has also forecast that its consolidated revenue for the entire fiscal would decline 1.3 percent YoY to Rs.214.16 billion (Rs.21,416 crore) or grow fractionally by 0.3 percent YoY to Rs.217.47 billion (Rs.21,747 crore).

Its earlier projection had pegged the annual revenue at Rs.220.66-229.28 billion, forecasting a 1.7-5.7 percent YoY growth..

'The global currency markets continue to be volatile. During the quarter, the rupee appreciated against the dollar from Rs.50.72 to Rs.47.91 on average,' said Infosys chief financial officer V. Balakrishnan.

In dollar terms too, consolidated revenue is expected to be in the range of $1.11-1.13 billion) in the second quarter, projecting a decline of 8.