Wipro Oct-Dec net profit falls 5.8% to Rs 2,114.8 crore

Bengaluru: Country’s third largest software services firm Wipro today posted a 5.8 percent drop in its consolidated net profit to Rs 2,114.8 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 2,246 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.  The city-based firm, however, saw revenues rising 6.2 percent to Rs 13,764.5 crore in the said quarter from Rs 12,951.6 crore in the same period last year, according to a filing on the BSE. The result is as per Indian Accounting Standards. Wipro’s IT services segment revenue stood at USD 1,902.8 million, a sequential decrease of 0.7 percent and 3.5 percent rise year-on-year as per IFRS. This is, however, lower than the company’s guidance of USD 1,916-1,955 million. For the March 2017 quarter, Wipro expects revenues from IT services business to be in the range of USD 1,922 million to USD 1,941 million. “We expanded operating margins by 50 basis points in a seasonally weak quarter and generated strong operating cash flows by disciplined execution,” Wipro Chief Financial Officer Jatin Dalal said. Last year, Wipro invested almost USD 1 billion into acquisitions, made six investments through Wipro Ventures, funded 8 ideas through Horizon programme, and continued to invest aggressively in cognitive platform, Wipro CEO and Board member Abidali Z Neemuchwala said. Digital ecosystem grew by 9.9 percent sequentially in the quarter and now constitutes 21.7 percent of Wipro’s revenues, he added. The IT services segment had a headcount of 1,79,129 as of December 31, 2016. Wipro’s IT products segment delivered revenue of Rs 570 crore (USD 84 million) for the quarter ended December 31, 2016. Wipro’s Board has approved an interim dividend of Rs 2 per equity share.