Wipro's quarterly profit rises 18 p.c.

BANGALORE, INDIA: Wipro Ltd, India's No. 3 software services exporter, reported an 18 per cent rise in quarterly net profit, meeting expectations, as customers outsourced more work to the company to cut their operational expenses.

Consolidated net profit rose to Rs.15.80 billion for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 from Rs.13.35 billion a year earlier for Wipro, which counts Citigroup Inc and Cisco systems Inc among its clients.

Analysts, on average, had forecast a net profit of Rs.15.95 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

India's $100 billion export-driven outsourcing sector faces diminishing hopes of an early revival in demand as their biggest markets, the United States and Europe, grapple with an uncertain economic and political climate.

Earlier this month, Infosys Ltd, the no. 2 software exporter, made a bigger-than-expected cut in its revenue growth forecast for the current fiscal year. But sector leader Tata Consultancy Services Ltd beat expectations with a 38 per cent rise in quarterly net profit.