Wipro meets forecast but projects flat growth

Bangalore, April 19 (IANS) Wipro Ltd. has met its revenue forecast for its global IT services in the fourth quarter (January-March) of the 2012-13 fiscal, but projected flat growth for the first quarter (April-June) of this fiscal (2013-14) in dollar terms, as the global environment continues to be challenging.

Though IT services revenue grew 13 percent year-on-year (YoY) in rupee terms to Rs.8,554 crore (Rs.85.54 billion) in the quarter under review (Q4), growth in dollar terms was 3.2 percent YoY and 0.5 percent sequentially to $1.59 billion as projected in mid-January.

With the environment remaining the same, the global software major Friday said revenue from IT services in the first quarter (Q1) of FY 2014 would be in the range of $1,575-1,610 million ($1.6 billion average) in dollar terms.

"The cross currencies have been volatile and impacted our financial performance in the quarter," Wipro chief financial officer Suresh Senapaty admitted in a statement after announcing the financial results for the quarter and fiscal 2013.

For the full year (FY 2013), IT services revenue, however, grew 19 percent YoY in rupee terms to Rs.33,843 crore (Rs.338.43 billion) while in dollar terms, growth was 5 percent YoY to Rs.6.2 billion.

"Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, we have been able to maintain margins on a sequential basis. We have also shown significant improvements in cash flow generation for the year," Senapaty said.

As in the case of its peers Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys from this fiscal, Wipro does not give revenue guidance for IT services on annual basis.

The IT bellwether posted net profit of Rs.1,729 crore (Rs.17.3 billion) for the quarter under review (Q4), registering 17 percent growth YoY as per the Indian accounting standard.

In a regulatory filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) earlier in the day, the company said total revenue for fourth quarter increased 12 percent YoY to Rs.11,026 crore (Rs.110.3 billion).

Under the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS), net income rose 17 percent YoY to $317 million and total income 12 percent YoY to $2.02 billion for the quarter under review.

For the entire fiscal (FY 2013), net profit grew 19 percent YoY to Rs.6,636 crore (Rs.66.4 billion) and total revenue 16 percent YoY to Rs.43,361 crore (Rs.433.6 billion) as per the Indian accounting standard.

Under IFRS, net income for fiscal under review is $1.22 billion and total income $7.95 billion.

"We continue to see improvement in our customer satisfaction and employee engagement. Our continued investments in the go-to-market organization positions us well for the future," Wipro chief executive for IT business T.K. Kurien said in the statement.

As decided by the board last year, the company has completed the demerger of its diversified business effective from March 31 to make Wipro Ltd. a pure play IT firm.

"We are confident that being a technology-focused company will provide a fresh impetus for growth," Wipro chairman Azim Premji asserted.