Wipro Q3 net profit rises 31.8 perccent to Rs 2,544.5 crore

​Bengaluru: Indian IT services company Wipro ON Friday posted a strong 31.8 per cent year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,544.5 crore for October-December 2018 and announced a 1:3 bonus share offer. 

Wipro's IT services revenues, that account for bulk of its topline, stood at $2,046.5 million (around Rs 14,555 crore), up 1.8 per cent over July-September quarter, and the company expects the sales from this segment to grow 0-2 per cent in March quarter. 

Overall, Wipro's revenue from operations expanded 10.17 per cent to Rs 15,059.5 crore during the period under review from Rs 13,669 crore in the third quarter of FY2017-18. The net profit growth of nearly 32 per cent came on the back of higher IT services revenue. The net profit in the October-December 2017 quarter was at Rs 1,930.1 crore.  "Our strategic investments, backed by strong client relationships and client spends towards enterprise modernisation and digital transformation have enabled us to deliver a very satisfying quarter," Wipro CEO and ED Abidali Z Neemuchwala said. 

Revenue from IT products segment for the just ended quarter was Rs 310 crore ($45.2 million), while that from India State Run Enterprises segment -- which was recently carved out from the IT services basket -- was at Rs 170 crore ($24.6 million). 

Wipro added 928 employees in the December quarter, and the total staff count stood at 1.72 lakh employees as on December 31, 2018. Wipro said its digital revenue grew 6.4 per cent sequentially and is now at 33.2 per cent of overall revenue.  Wipro's numbers come days after larger rivals Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Ltd announced their quarterly earnings. 

India's second largest IT firm Infosys reported a 30 per cent drop in its December quarter net profit on higher expenses, while TCS clocked over 24 per cent growth in net income during the just ended quarter, and even guided towards a healthy 2019 citing a "strong" order pipeline.