Wipro Q4 net jumps 16.73% to Rs1,729 crore

IT services major Wipro Ltd has reported a 16.73 per cent increase in fiscal fourth quarter net profit at Rs1,728.7 crore, against a net profit of Rs1,480.9 crore in the year-ago quarter ended 31 March 2012.

Wipro, the country's third largest software services firm, saw its consolidated income rise 13 per cent to Rs9,613.1 crore during the January-March quarter of the 2012-13 fiscal, from Rs8,506.1 crore in the same period of the 2011-12 fiscal, the company said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Wipro said revenues from IT services rose 13 per cent to Rs8,554 crore (around $1.57 billion) in the January-March quarter of fiscal 2012-13.

Profit from IT services before interest and tax increased by 10 per cent to Rs1,727 crore ($317 million) during the period.

"Cross currencies have been volatile and impacted our financial performance in the quarter. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, we have been able to maintain margins on a sequential basis. We have shown significant improvements in cash flow generation for the year," Wipro CFO Suresh Senapaty said.

For the financial year ended 31 March 2013, the company reported a 19.07-per cent increase in net profit at Rs6,635.9 crore from Rs5,573 crore in 2011-12.

Total revenue for the fiscal 2012-13 rose 17 per cent to Rs37,685.1 crore from Rs32,205.5 crore in the previous fiscal.

Wipro Ltd is a publicly-listed company focusing on IT services and products effective 31 March 2013. The company had, in November 2012, announced demerger of its consumer care and lighting, infrastructure engineering and medical diagnostic businesses into an unlisted firm Wipro Enterprises.

"We have completed the demerger of the 'diversified business' effective 31 March 2013 to make Wipro Ltd a pure play IT company. We are confident that being a technology focused company will provide a fresh momentum for growth," Wipro chairman Azim Premji said.

Total revenues of Wipro, including those of IT business, consumer care and lighting and others, rose 11.72 per cent to Rs11,026.4 crore in January-March 2012-13 from Rs9,869.1 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Wipro expects revenues from IT services business to be in the range of $1.575-1.610 billion for the first quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal.

Commenting on the firm's results, Wipro CEO (IT Business) T K Kurien said: "We continue to see improvement in our customer satisfaction and employee engagement. Our continued investments in the go-to-market organisation positions us well for the future."

Wipro added 2,907 IT professionals during the January-March 2013 quarter taking its IT services employee strength to 1,45,812 as of 31 March  2013.

The company also added 52 new customers during the quarter.