Bangalore, Apr 17 (PTI) The country's third-largest
software services exporter Wipro today reported a 28.8 per
cent jump in net profit for the fourth quarter, helped by a
revival in Europe, robust growth in the US and a cost
optimisation drive.
Profit climbed to Rs 2,226.5 crore in the three months
ended March 31 from Rs 1,728.7 crore a year earlier, the
Bangalore-based company said in a statement.
Net sales grew 21.7 per cent to Rs 11,703.6 crore from Rs
9,613.1 crore a year earlier. The results are under
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
Wipro, which expects a strong deal pipeline in the first
quarter of this financial year, projected IT services revenue
of USD 1.715-1.755 billion in the three months ending June 30.
"The steady improvement in global economy, coupled with
the exciting pace of technological advancements, presents us
with opportunities to create innovative solutions to help our
customers differentiate, compete and succeed in their
respective market," Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said.
Revenue from IT services stood at Rs 10,620 crore, up 24
per cent year-on-year.
In US dollar terms, IT services revenue was USD 1.72
billion, up 8.5 per cent year-on-year and in line with its
projection of USD 1.712-1.745 billion for January-March.
"Fourth quarter has gone off well as planned. We have
achieved a sequential revenue growth of 2.5 per cent for the
quarter in line with our guidance.
"Our investments in automation, platform-based delivery
and process simplification have helped us expand our margins
by 430 basis points y-o-y to 24.5 per cent -- our highest
margin in last 15 quarters," Wipro Chief Executive Officer T K
Kurien told the media here.
For 2013-14, Wipro's profit rose 17.5 per cent to Rs
7,796.7 crore and revenue grew 16.1 per cent to Rs 43,754.9
crore.
IT services revenue for the year was at USD 6.62 billion
(up 6.4 per cent y-o-y) or Rs 39,950 crore (up 18 per cent).
Wipro added 59 customers in the quarter. It had 1,46,053
employees as of March 31 in its IT services business.
"We saw strong deal closure in the current quarter with
our order book being one of the highest we have ever seen and
we see the momentum continue in the first quarter this fiscal
also and we have a strong funnel in terms of deals coming up
for closure," Kurien said.
There is a seasonality with the firm's quarterly
performance, which is playing out in the first quarter also,
he added.
"As we enter the year, we see broad demand trends
remaining stable both in terms of volume and realisations," he
said.
IT products delivered revenue of Rs 1,110 crore (USD 185
million) in the quarter, up 3 per cent, while for the year, it
dipped 1 per cent to Rs 3,880 crore (USD 646 million).
Wipro declared a final dividend of Rs 5 (USD 0.08) per
share/ADS, taking the total for the year to Rs 8 (USD 0.13).
Shares of the company, which announced results after
market hours, rose 2.39 per cent to Rs 585.55 on the BSE.
On employees, Kurien said: "We continue to drive and
focus on employee satisfaction. Our salary hike cycle and
promotion, as always, will be effective from June 1, 2014."
Asked about the quantum of the wage hike, Wipro Senior
Vice President (Human Resources) Saurabh Govil said, "It is in
line with the industry. Typically, the plan right now is...6-8
per cent for offshore and 2-3 per cent for onsite employees."
Both onsite and offshore hiring continues as per plan,
Govil said, without providing details.
On region-wise growth, Kurien said: "Proactive investment
in continental Europe is showing early signs of success in
terms of deal wins. The US has grown ahead of company average.
"We see our customer's business environment change
significantly in two key areas. There is demand for leveraging
new digital technologies, both for optimising on technology
spends and also to differentiate in the market place," he
said.
TCS, the country's largest software services firm, had
also said demand would be stronger in 2014-15 as the global
economy improves and clients increase technology spends,
especially on new platforms such as cloud, mobility, social
and analytics.
Wipro expects strong demand in healthcare, retail
banking, utilities, process manufacturing, auto and pharma,
Kurien added.
"We see spending far more constrained in retail,
insurance and hi-tech. From service line perspective, we see
good traction in global infrastructure services and revival of
demand in application space," Kurien said.
IT-BPO industry body Nasscom has projected the sector's
export revenue to grow 13-15 per cent in this financial year.
On acquisitions, Kurien said: "Acquisition for us is very
simple. It is to fill the gap in terms of geography or in
terms of competency. We will not do acquisition to make sure
that our growth looks good. We are going to be selective in
our acquisition."
Wipro has launched an independent unit, Wipro Digital,
focusing on the chief marketing officer, he said, adding that
the firm saw its net promoter score increase significantly,
based on an independent, third-party survey. PTI KSU
No comments:
Post a Comment