India's third largest software services exporter Wipro today said its profits rose by 27 per cent to Rs 2,010 crore for the third quarter ended December 31 on the back of growth in infrastructure services business and improved efficiency.
The city-headquartered firm's revenues rose by 18 per cent to Rs 11,330 crore in the October-December quarter of this fiscal compared to the year-ago period, it said in a release. The company added its net profit of Rs 2,010 crore (USD 325 million) also includes a non-recurring expense incurred due to the cessation of manufacturing Wipro branded desktop, laptops and servers.
Commenting on the performance, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said: "As the global economy is progressing towards stability, we see optimism amongst clients, especially in the West." Corporations are leveraging technology to reduce operational costs and investing resources in differentiating themselves in the marketplace, he added.
Wipro's IT services revenue stood at USD 1.68 billion, a y-o-y increase of 6.4 per cent. The firm's IT service revenues in rupee terms rose by 20 per cent year-on-year to Rs 10,330 crore in the third quarter. "During the quarter, our Global Infrastructure Services business grew strongly on revenues," Wipro CEO T K Kurien said.
The company added 42 new customers during the third quarter. Its IT services segment had 146,402 employees as of December 31, 2013.
On revenue guidance, Wipro said it expects revenues in the January-March quarter of 2013-14 fiscal to be in the range of USD 1.71-1.75 billion. "Our focus on account management has yielded encouraging results. We continue to execute to our strategy for superior engagement with clients while investing in emerging technologies to drive towards a higher growth trajectory," Kurien said.
Wipro CFO Suresh Senapaty said the company's strategy of 'standardisation at the core' is yielding results. "Our investments in automation and productivity tools have driven efficiencies and helped us expand margins of IT Services by 54 basis points to 23 per cent," he added.
Wipro's IT products segment delivered revenues of Rs 1,020 crore (USD 164 million) for the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 2 per cent.
Wipro results were announced after markets closed for the day. The company's shares today declined by 3.15 per cent to settle at Rs 552.45 apiece from its previous BSE close.
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