Wipro posts 36 pc growth, beats own projection

IT major Wipro on Wednesday reported a profit of Rs.9.96 billion $203 million) for the second quarter of this financial year ended Sep 30, recording a 30 percent year-on-year growth to beat its own projection.

IT major Wipro on Wednesday reported a profit of Rs.9.96 billion $203 million) for the second quarter of this financial year ended Sep 30, recording a 30 percent year-on-year growth to beat its own projection.

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IT Services revenue in dollar terms was $1.11 billion, showing a 4-percent sequential growth and 29 percent year-on-year growth, Wipro chariman Azim Premji told a press conference here.

In rupee terms, revenue stood at Rs.47.50 billion, a year-on-year growth of 36 percent, he said.

"For the quarter ended September 2008, we delivered an excellent performance with IT Services revenues at $1.11 billion, significantly ahead of our guidance of $1.08 billion," Premji said.

Profit before interest and tax (PBIT) for IT Services was Rs.9.96 billion, a growth of 30 percent Year on Year. Premji said the IT services added 28 new clients during the quarter.

Noting that "the global economic environment has deteriorated significantly over the past couple of months", he said "our outlook is cautious in the near term given the extent of strain on the global economy.

"However, we are confident on the resilience of our business model to tide over these challenging times. Looking ahead, for the quarter ending Dec 31, 2008, we expect our revenue from our IT services business to be approximately $1.12 billion."

Suresh Senapaty, executive director and chief financial officer of Wipro, said: "The performance for the quarter is a strong reflection of our ability to deliver operational efficiencies."

Wipro had 97,552 employees as of Sep 30, including 75,748 employees in the IT services business and 21,804 employees in business process outsourcing (BPO).

IT services business accounted for 73 percent of the revenue and 90 percent of the profit before tax for the July-September quarter, Premji said.