Wipro Q1 net rises 12% to `2,870 cr

Bengaluru IT major Wipro witnessed some softness in revenue growth though operating margin and deal pipeline remained strong for the company during the first quarter of current financial year.

For the first quarter ended June, Wipro posted around 12 per cent rise consolidated net profit at Rs2,870 crore. Consolidated revenue for the quarter increased six per cent YoY to Rs 22,831 crore.

IT services segment revenue, which constitutes more than 95 per cent of company’s consolidated revenues, stood at $2.78 billion. In constant currency term, IT services revenue increased 1.1 per cent over the same period last fiscal, while it declined 2.8 per cent over the past quarter.

“We saw some softness in the revenues, but our margins remained steady. Despite a gradual reduction in clients’ discretionary spending, we maintained new business momentum. Our deal bookings remained strong and we booked large deals worth $1.2 billion during the first quarter,” Thierry Delaporte, CEO of Wipro said in the post results press conference. “After accelerated technology spending, we see a growth moderation. Clients are increasingly looking at faster returns from their investments and focussing on optimising cost. Among the verticals, we see demand slowdown in BFSI, hi-tech and communications verticals, while demand in healthcare and energy verticals remains strong,” he added.

For the second quarter, Wipro guided for its IT services revenue to be in the range of $2.72 billion-$2.8 billion, translating into a -2% to 1% growth over the first quarter.

Despite softness in the revenue growth, operating margins remained steady at 16 per cent, 112 basis points higher than the same period last year and a marginal decline of 3 basis points sequentially.

The margin performance of Wipro was far better than its peers Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Tech, which witnessed a sharp drop owing to high wage cost and tepid revenue growth.