Wipro Q1 net rises 12 p.c, beats forecast

BANGALORE, INDIA: Wipro Ltd, India's third-largest software services exporter, posted a 12 per cent rise in quarterly profit, beating forecasts, helped by deal wins in its new markets and cost cutting measures.

Wipro, which offers IT solutions such as system integration, software application development and back-office services, said on Wednesday net profit rose to Rs 1015.50 crore in the April-June quarter as against Rs 907.80 crore in the year-ago quarter.

A Reuters poll had forecast a net profit of Rs 914 crore for New York-listed Wipro, which counts Citigroup, Cisco, General Motors, Nokia Siemens Networks and Credit Suisse among its clients.

Consolidated net sales of the company stood at Rs 6289.10 crore for the quarter ended June 30 2009 compared with Rs 6482.10 crore the quarter ended March 31,2009.

Wipro's IT Services business added 26 new clients during the quarter. During the reporting quarter, Wipro won a 9-year IT outsourcing contract from Unitech Wireless.

According to an IDC report, “Wipro’s success in winning the Unitech Wireless deal will definitely go a very long way in building its credibility and mindshare among CIOs not only in the telecom industry but in other verticals as well.”

This apart Wipro also entered into a strategic engagement with a leading wholesaler to enable IT as a key differentiator in their business, among others.

“We are starting to see the first signs of stability in the business as ramp downs start to taper off and volumes start to stabilize,” said Wipro chairman Azim Premji.

“We are adapting ourselves for the new reality with continued investments in value creation, go-to-market and driving significant operational productivity.”

Premji said the company expects revenues to the range of $1,035 million to $1,053 million for the quarter ending September 30, 2009.

Suresh Senapaty, executive director and chief financial officer of Wipro, said it was another quarter of strong performance.

“We improved on several operating parameters to deliver margin expansion of 0.6 per cent to 22.3 per cent in the IT Services segment,” he said.