IT major Wipro Ltd., on Friday, reported a net profit of Rs. 1,716 crore in the third quarter, an increase of 18 per cent over the corresponding period in the previous financial year.
For the quarter ended December 31, the company reported consolidated revenue of Rs. 10,989 crore, a 10 per cent increase over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Revenue from IT services, which grew by 4.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis, stood at Rs. 8,651 crore, about 78 per cent of the total revenue and 92 per cent of the operating income of the company.
The sequential increase in revenue from IT services for the third quarter over the previous quarter was 2.4 per cent.
Announcing the quarterly results, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said: "While the overall mood on economic growth continues to be muted, global corporations continue to leverage technology to drive revenues and productivity."
Stating that the results are in line with the company’s guidance, he said that there is some improvement in the U.S. economy, and that Europe was neither showing strong positive signs nor negative signs.
The company also added 2,336 employees in the quarter to its IT services segment, taking the total head count to 1.42 lakh employees even as it added 50 new customers.
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (IT Business) T.K. Kurien said: "We have seen broad-based growth in the quarter with all our verticals growing sequentially. Our improvement in customer and employee engagement is reflected in client mining, with 10 customers contributing more than $100 million and lower attrition."
In its guidance for the financial year, the company has said that it expects revenue from IT businesses to be in the range of Rs. 8,662 crore to Rs. 8,880 crore ($ 1.58 billion to $ 1.62 billion).
Other divisions
Besides the IT business, the IT products division saw a year-on-year revenue increase by 11 per cent at Rs. 997 crore, which contributed 9 per cent to the total revenue and 1 per cent of operating income.
The consumer care and lighting division grew by 17 per cent on a year-on-year basis at Rs. 1,028 crore. which contributed 9 per cent to revenue and 7 per cent of the operating income.
Azim Premji expects more interim steps
Appreciating the Centre’s decision to implement the recommendation of the Rangachary Committee, which deals with the tax disputes that the industry has been facing over the years, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said that he expected the Finance Minister to take more interim steps before the budget.
On the same issue, Chief Financial Officer Suresh Senapathy, in release, said: “We commend and welcome the circular implementing the recommendation of the Rangachary Committee, which has dealt with the tax disputes the industry has been facing over the years.”
