Wipro expects small rise in IT services revenue in quarter

By Arnab Paul and Tanvi Mehta

(Reuters) - Indian software services provider Wipro Ltd on Friday forecast a small rise in revenue growth from IT services for the quarter to March after beating third quarter profit estimates.

Although factors such as Brexit, rising trade war concerns and the healthcare act could create tension for firms globally, a weaker rupee has been beneficial for the Indian IT sector.

"We do not see any immediate impact of the macro headwinds that some of the large economies have cautioned, but we continue to remain watchful," Abidali Z. Neemuchwala, Wipro's Chief Executive Officer, said following the results.

Wipro remained cautious over growth in the healthcare business, amid uncertainty around the Affordable Care Act.

Revenue in the healthcare division grew at 4.3 percent in the quarter, while that from the business, financial services and insurance division rose 24.8 percent.

"At this point, we are not seeing any major changes in our customers or our established revenue streams that we are generating," chief financial officer Jatin Dalal told Reuters in an interview, referring to expectations for the March quarter.

The company does not expect a big jump in revenue from its IT services in the current quarter, which is expected at between $2.05 billion and $2.09 billion.

Revenue from the sector grew 13 percent to 146.66 billion rupees ($2.06 billion) in the third quarter, a seasonally weak quarter.

Wipro's net profit jumped 30 percent to 25.10 billion rupees ($353 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, beating analysts' average estimate of 23.25 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The board also approved an issue of bonus shares in a ratio of 1 to 3.

Bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services Ltd reported a 24 percent rise in quarterly net profit while Infosys Ltd reported a 29.6 percent profit slump on account of a one-off gain last year.

($1 = 71.1400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta and Arnab Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton/Louise Heavens/Alexander Smith)