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GOING STRONG ON GLOBAL BIZ: The Wipro Chairman, Mr Azim Premji, the Chief Financial Officer, Mr Suresh Senapathy (left); and the President, Enterprise Solutions, Mr Sudip Banerjee, at a news conference in Bangalore on Wednesday. — Sampath Kumar G.P

Bangalore , Oct. 19

ROBUST growth across all its business units helped Wipro Ltd to post a 16 per cent rise in net profit and a 27 per cent increase in revenue for the September 2005 quarter over the corresponding quarter last year.

Wipro registered a net profit of Rs 478 crore on revenues of Rs 2,506.8 crore as compared to a net profit of Rs 411 croreon revenues of Rs 1,978 crore in the corresponding last fiscal. Sequentially, the net profit was up by 12 per cent while revenues were up 11 per cent.

The Wipro stock closed lower at Rs 368.70 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, a 1.23 per cent drop over the previous close of Rs 373.3.

Commenting on the results, the Wipro Chairman, Mr Azim Premji, said, "Our global IT business sustained its momentum recording double digit volume growth sequentially, resulting in revenues for the quarter being $430.7 million against our guidance of $422 million".

For the December quarter, Wipro expects revenues from its global IT business to be approximately $463 million, a 7.5 per cent growth.

Revenues from IT services grew 26 per cent year-on-year, while on sequential basis it went up by nine per cent to Rs 1,721.8 crore, accounting for 76 per cent of the total earnings. Wipro Infotech, the India, Middle East and the Asia Pacific IT services business, registered a 32 per cent annual revenue growth at Rs 398 crore, accounting for 16 per cent of the company's total Q2 earnings. The consumer care and lighting business grew by 5.4 per cent to Rs 143.7 crore.

Wipro added 39 clients in IT services, including two clients in BPO services, of which 10 were in the Fortune 1000 and Global 500 category. Key wins included a 10-year total outsourcing deal with the Sanmar Group among others. "Our investments in account management began to pay off as we saw the number of our million dollar customers cross 200 for the fist time," Mr Premji said.

Wipro added 5,600 employees, the highest ever people addition on a gross basis, during the quarter increasing its headcount to 45,835. This was the first quarter with the new management structure at Wipro, put in place after the exit of its high profile Vice-Chairman, Mr Vivek Paul.

"We were able to expand our operating margins by about 40 basis point despite adding over 5,600 people in our IT services team and lower price realisations," said the CFO, Mr Suresh Senapathy.

Wipro saw a two per cent drop in its offshore prices and a 0.8 per cent fall in on-site prices during the quarter, while its operating margins stood at 24 per cent. The company also saw a record sequential volume growth of 11.7 in IT services, driven by the double-digit growth in its financial solutions and combined technology solutions business.

Replying to a query, Mr Sudip Banerjee, President, Enterprise Solutions, Wipro, said the company was in the race for a big outsourcing deal from General Motors, likely to be awarded later this fiscal.

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