Wipro posts small rise in quarterly profit; outlook muted

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's No.3 software services firm Wipro Ltd reported a small rise in quarterly profit on Tuesday, driven by revenue growth from financial solutions and healthcare customers.

The company however, said it expects quarterly revenue, on a sequential basis, to fall or stay flat in the ongoing quarter.

The muted growth outlook comes as Indian software service firms brace for new visa rules in their biggest market the United States and growing protectionism in other countries such as Australia and New Zealand.

Bengaluru-headquartered Wipro said it expects revenue in its IT services business of between $1.92 billion and $1.96 billion, in the three months ending June 30. It reported revenue of $1.94 billion in the current quarter, on an equivalent basis.

India's $150 billion information technology sector has struggled over the past few quarters as clients in the United States held back discretionary spending to gauge policy direction under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

Wipro's consolidated net profit rose 0.43 percent to 22.67 billion rupees ($352.8 million) in the three months to March 31, from 22.5 billion rupees in the year-ago period.

Analysts had, on average, expected a consolidated profit of 21.19 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

($1 = 64.2650 rupees)

(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Keith Weir and David Evans)