Wipro Q1 net rises 31 p.c to Rs 1,319 cr

BANGALORE, INDIA: Wipro Ltd, India's No. 3 software firm, posted a 31 percent rise in quarterly profit, beating consensus estimates, on firm global demand for outsourcing services.

Wipro, which develops software applications, integrates IT systems and manages call centres, said net profit for the June quarter rose to 1319 crore rupees ($280 million) under international accounting standards from 1010 crore a year ago. In the previous quarter, Wipro had made a net profit of 1209 crore rupees.

Total revenues for the quarter increased to Rs 7,236 crore representing an increase of 16 per cent over the same period last year.

A Reuters poll of brokerages had forecast a net profit of 12 billion rupees for Wipro, which counts Citigroup, Cisco and Credit Suisse among its leading clients.

Rising demand has seen Indian IT firms boosting hiring and raising salaries as they battle intensifying competition from global rivals such as IBM and Accenture.

However, a debt crisis in Europe, the second-biggest market for the Indian software firms, and currency fluctuations are key worries for the $60 billion outsourcing sector.

Last week, sector leader Tata Consultancy Services beat market estimates and said it was seeing strong demand for outsourcing.

But No. 2 Infosys posted a surprise fall in quarterly profit and said a weak European economy could curb new orders and dampen a recovery for India's outsourcing sector.