Wipro third-quarter profit beats estimates

(Reuters) - Indian software services provider Wipro Ltd reported a better than expected rise in third-quarter profit on Friday, and forecast slightly higher sequential revenue growth from IT services for the March quarter.

Net profit rose to 25.10 billion rupees ($353 million) in the three months to Dec. 31 from 19.31 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier, the company said.

That compared with analysts' average estimate of 23.25 billion rupees, compiled from Refinitiv Eikon data.

Wipro said it expects revenue from its IT services to be between $2.05 billion to $2.09 billion for the March quarter.

Revenue from IT services grew 13 percent to 146.66 billion rupees ($2.06 billion) in the third quarter, while total revenue rose 10.2 percent.

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

Shares in the Bengaluru-based company closed 3.2 percent higher while the broader Mumbai market ended up 0.02 percent.

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 and Louise Heavens)