Wipro meets estimates, Q4 revenue rises 9% to $2.2 bn
BENGALURU: Wipro Ltd posted better-than-expected revenue growth for the fiscal fourth-quarter, but offered a disappointing revenue growth outlook of -1% to 1.0% for the June quarter.
Wipro, India’s fourth largest IT services company by revenue, also announced a bonus of one free share for every three shares held by shareholders. The Wipro board also approved a ₹10,500 crore buyback plan under which it will acquire up to 323 million shares at ₹325 apiece.
Wipro’s dollar revenue improved 9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to $2.2 billion in the quarter ended March 31.
Revenue grew 7% on a quarteron-quarter basis.
A Bloomberg survey of 31 analysts had forecast revenue of $2.18 billion, or ₹15,069.40 crore, in the March quarter. They also forecast a profit of $359.31 million, or ₹2,489.20 crore.
In dollar terms, Wipro’s net profit declined to $359.1 million in the fourth quarter from $366 million at the end of the third quarter. Consequently, the company’s operating margin fell to 19% in Q4 from 19.8% in Q3.
In constant currency terms, Wipro managed a 7.5% y-o-y growth in Q4 revenue although it fell 1% sequentially.
“Our rigour in execution and focus on improved quality of revenues has resulted in operating margins expansion of 1.8% for the year (in constant currency). The announcement to buy back equity shares is part of our philosophy to deliver efficient returns to shareholders,” said Jatin Dalal, senior vice-president and chief financial officer at Wipro.
In rupee terms, Wipro’s revenue for the fourth quarter of FY19 rose to ₹15,000.63 crore, from ₹13,768.86 crore a year earlier. Revenue in the last financial year grew 7.5% to ₹58,584.5 crore from ₹54,487.1 crore.
Wipro’s net profit in rupee terms jumped 38% to ₹2,483.3 crore for the fourth quarter from ₹1,802.8 crore a year earlier.
For the full year ended March 31, net profit increased 12% to ₹9,003.1 crore.
Wipro’s revenue from clients in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), comprised 31.5% of overall revenue, compared to 28.7% in the same period a year earlier, in constant currency terms. US and Europe accounted for majority of the revenues in Q4.