Wipro Q1 profit rises 30% to Rs 2,103 cr

IT services major Wipro today reported a 29.5% growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,103.2 crore for April-June period, helped by large deals in the application and infrastructure space.

The city-headquartered firm had posted a net profit of Rs 1,623.3 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a BSE filing.

Consolidated net sales rose by 15.5% to Rs 11,245.5 crore in April-June quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 9,733.2 crore in the same quarter of 2013-14.

The figures are in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said: "We see a significant rise in business confidence in developed markets as well as India."

The new government at the Centre has brought about hope and confidence in the minds of all stakeholders through reform pronouncements with fiscal prudence, he added.

In US dollars, Wipro reported a net profit of USD 351 million and revenue of USD 1.9 billion.

Revenue from IT Services stood at USD 1.74 billion, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 1.2% and year-on-year increase of 9.6%. Wipro had guided this to be in the range of USD 1.715 billion-USD 1.755 billion.

For the July-September quarter, the IT services revenue is forecast to be in the range of USD 1.77 billion-USD 1.81 billion.

"We continue to win large deals particularly in the application and infrastructure space. We recently announced our largest ever total outsourcing deal," Wipro CEO T K Kurien said.

These wins demonstrate confidence of clients in Wipro's transformational capabilities and re-affirm their faith in its client engagement strategy, he added.

IT Services revenue in rupee terms was Rs 10,510 crore, an increase of 18% year-on-year.

The IT services segment had 147,452 employees as of June 30, 2014 and the firm added 35 new customers for the quarter.

"We continue to drive operational efficiency and invest in our strategy. Operating margins for the quarter was on expected lines, impacted largely due to wage hikes," Wipro CFO Suresh Senapaty said.

Analysts said the April-June quarter has been lukewarm for the country's third largest IT services firm.

"Its been a lukewarm period overall for the IT industry at large, including Wipro. That said, few contracts over the last quarter has helped Wipro get access to more high-profile deals at a time when outsourcing demand looks stronger as compared to previous years," Greyhound Research CEO Sanchit Vir Gogia said.

Wipro shares today rose by 1.31% to close at Rs 576.80 apiece at the BSE.