Wipro to buy back shares at Rs 625; eyes $15 bn revenue

In a bonanza to its shareholders, country's third largest IT firm Wipro said it will buy back up to four crore shares worth around Rs 2,500 crore. This represents 1.62 % of the total paid-up equity capital aggregating to 4 crore shares at a price of Rs 625 per share. Wipro stock closed at Rs 601.35 apiece, up 2.07 % from its previous close on the BSE. The company's board has determined May 6 as the record date for the proposed buyback.

As of Mar 31, promoters held 73.34% stake in Wipro, while the company's gross cash at the end of the March 2016 quarter stood at Rs 30,143 crore.

"The move to buy back equity shares is part of the company's policy to provide regular, stable and consistent return to investors while striving to enhance long-term value for all stakeholders," Chief Financial Officer Jatin Dalal said.

Wipro, India's third-largest IT firm, reported 1.6 % drop in its March quarter net profit to Rs 2,235 crore due to pressure on margins even as it aims to double revenue to $15 billion by 2020.

IT services, which account for a lion's share of its turnover, saw margins drop by 10 basis points to 20.1 % compared to October-December quarter and by 2 percentage points on yearon-year basis and were also impacted by weakness in its financial and healthcare services business.

The Azim Premji-led firm, which has lagged larger rivals Infosys and Tata Con-

THE company is looking to double its turnover to USD 15 billion by 2020 as it focuses more on digital and automation under the new management team

sultancy Services in fourthquarter earnings, forecast revenue from IT services business at USD 1.90-1.94 billion. This would be an increase of 1-3 % quarter-onquarter growth.

The company is looking to double its turnover to USD 15 billion by 2020 as it focuses more on digital and automation under the new management team. It closed 2015-16 fiscal with about USD 7.7 billion in annual revenues. During January-March quarter, Wipro's revenue rose 12.9 % to Rs 13,741.7 crore.

"Our focus is to drive significant growth in our 'run' business through integrated services and hyper-automation while gaining leadership in the 'change' business through investments in Digital and Consulting capabilities, IPbased platforms and products and creating differentiated domain solutions for non-linear growth," Wipro CEO Abidali Z Neemuchwala said.