During the fiscal, Wipro enhanced the rate of depreciation on computers, furniture/fixtures and office equipment from 33 to 50 per cent, from 9.5 to 19 per cent and 4.75 to 19 per cent respectively, he said.

Premji said with a view to make Wipro shares more affordable and also to increase liquidity in trade, the board of directors had recommended a share split of five shares for every one share held.

During the period, Wipro earned Rs 4.4 crorefrom its Six Sigma Quality Initiatives and during current fiscal the wing was expected to grow by three fold, he said.

Wipro's software exports touched Rs 633 crore marking 61 per cent growth, of that Y2K accounted for 7 per cent. Its profit before interest and tax grew by 56 per cent to Rs 165 crore, generating a return on capital employed of 71 per cent, he said.

During 1998-99, Wipro's networking solutions, customer service and computer peripherals division, Systems and Services grew by 22 per cent posting a total business of Rs 712 crore.

``A significant proportion of our business during last fiscal has come from service segments. However,'' he said, ``the economy as a whole turned out to be very sluggish and some of our business divisions suffered set back.'' Wipro Fluid Power also suffered loses as the construction industry has been reeling under recession, he added.

Responding to a query on the performance of Wipro Finance, Premji said, ``We are no longer active in financing and a major chunkof our business during the last fiscal was from non-funding sectors.''