Wipro net up 17.63 p.c.

CMN Bureau

BANGALORE, INDIA: Wipro Ltd today reported an increase of 17.63 per cent in net profit to Rs 823.7 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 from Rs 700.2 crore posted for the year-ago quarter.

The company's total income was Rs 4,883.6 crore for the reporting quarter, up 34.64 per cent from Rs 3,627 crore for the corresponding quarter the previous year.

The standalone net profit of the company increased by 14.29 per cent to Rs 760.3 crore for the second quarter from Rs 665.2 crore a year ago.

The total standalone income during the reporting quarter rose 25.77 per cent to Rs 4245.0 crore from Rs 3,375.2 crore.

Sequentially, the company's net profits and revenues were up 14 per cent each.

The company's board, at its meeting held on October 19, declared an interim dividend of Rs 2 per share (100 per cent on an equity share of par value of Rs 2).

“The results for the quarter demonstrate strong execution by team Wipro on all fronts. Revenues from our global IT services at $796.5 million for the quarter, including revenues of $6.4 million from Infocrossing, were ahead of our guidance of $777 million,” Wipro chairman Azim H Premji said.

“Looking ahead, for the quarter ending December 2007, we expect our revenue from our Global IT services business to be approximately $905 million, including revenues of around $60 million from acquisitions” he added.

The company had 77, 478 employees at the end of the reporting quarter, including a net addition of 5,341 employees in global IT services, which hired 878 employees in BPO and 4,463 employees in IT services. Attrition levels in IT services dropped 220 basis points to 17.9 per cent.