Wipro CEO Abidali Neemuchwala's pay package leaps 41% to Rs 27 crore in FY19

Wipro Chief Executive Abidali Z Neemuchwala saw his pay package grow over 41% to around Rs 27 crore ($3.95 million) in FY 2018-19 compared to the previous fiscal with a significant chunk of variable pay, as per the company's regulatory filings. He earned Rs 18.23 crore ($2.8 million) in FY 2017-18.

The filing also shows that Chairman-designate Rishad Premji's salary rose 9%, while Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jatin Dalal's compensation grew by 23% during FY 2018-19, Wipro's filings showed.

Unlike other executives who get their variable pay via a quarterly performance-linked scheme, both Neemuchwala and Premji get their variable pay on an annual basis. "The remuneration of executive officers is computed on accrual basis. It also included the amortisation of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) granted to them, which vest over a period of time. This also includes RSUs based on the performance parameters of the company," the company said in its filing.

Also Read: Wipro CEO Abidali Neemuchwala's pay package grows 34.5% to Rs 18 crore in FY18

Neemuchwala's salary jump comes at a time when the Bengaluru-based IT major reported a 37.74 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,483 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2019, driven by robust performance from its banking, financial services and insurance segment.

"The country's third largest IT company had posted the consolidated net profit of Rs Rs 1,803 crore in the same period a year earlier," Wipro said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Also Read: Azim Premji to hand over role of Executive Chairman to son Rishad; MD position goes to Abidali Neemuchwala

Consolidated revenue of the company rose 8.98 per cent to Rs 15,006.30 crore in March quarter from Rs 13,768.60 crore in the year-ago period, helped by 11.1 per cent growth in IT services business.

Commenting on Q4 earnings, Wipro CEO and Executive Director Abidali Z Neemuchwala said: "Our teams have executed well on our strategy, which has resulted in consistent improvement of YoY growth each quarter. We have built a strong foundation for growth on the back of healthy order book and continued investments in big bet areas of digital, cybersecurity, engineering services and cloud. Our customers find these investments relevant as part of their digital transformation and IT operations landscape modernisation, enabling us to win in the market."

Also Read: Wipro Q4 profit jumps 38% YoY to Rs 2,483 cr, board approves share buyback worth Rs 10,500 cr

Wipro witnessed a change of guard last week where the company's founder Azim Premji announced his retirement as the Executive Chairman and Managing Director. He will step down on July 31 to make way for son Rishad A Premji as the Whole-Time Director as well as designated Executive Chairman of the company.

Azim Premji will serve as the Non-Executive Chairman of Wipro for a period of five years from July 31, 2019 to July 30, 2024, the company stated. Wipro, in the regulatory filing, also stated that Premji has been conferred with the title of Founder Chairman of the Company.

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