Wipro, the country's leading software exporter, on Wednesday reported 12.8 per cent year-on-year growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,387.60 crore for the first quarter ended June 30. The profit was down 3.86 per cent compared to Rs 2,483.50 crore in the March quarter.
"The Bengaluru-based technology firm had posted consolidated net profit of Rs 2,120.80 crore in the same quarter last year," Wipro said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Consolidated net sales of the IT major increased by 5.28 per cent to Rs 14,716.10 crore as compared to Rs 13,977.70 crore in the same period of 2018-19. However, Wipro's net sales were lower than Rs 15,006.30 crore in the March quarter.
Revenue from IT services segment grew by 4.3 per cent to USD 2,038.8 million versus USD 1,988.8 million in the year ago period.
The total expenses of the company increased to Rs 12,492.10 crore against Rs 12,141.80 crore in the year-ago period. Speaking on the share buyback, Wipro said it was awaiting market regulator Sebi's approval for its proposal, which was filed on June 12. On April 16, the board of directors approved a proposal of buyback of up to over 32.3 crore equity shares of Rs 2 each, representing 5.35 per cent of the total paid-up equity share capital from the shareholders on a proportionate basis by way of a tender offer at a price of Rs 325 for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 10,500 crore.
Commenting on Q1 earnings, Abidali Z. Neemuchwala, Wipro CEO and Executive Director said, "Our efforts on client mining have resulted in an addition of three customers in more than $100 Mn bucket. We will continue to build differentiated capabilities to drive business transformation for our customers by investing in our big bets."
"We delivered IT Services margins of 18.4% and Free Cash Flows of 98.8% of our Net Income. We had a slower start to the year, we however remain focused on our operations and continue to invest in talent and capabilities for the future," said Jatin Dalal, Chief Financial Officer.
Looking forward, the IT firm expects revenue from IT services business to be in the range of USD 2,039 million to USD 2,080 million, which translates to a sequential growth of 0-2 per cent.
Ahead of earnings announcement, shares of Wipro closed trade at Rs 259.70 apiece, down 0.13 per cent, on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company released first quarter earnings report post market trading hours on Wednesday.
Edited by Chitranjan Kumar
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