Wipro on Thursday reported a sequential rise in net profit for the January-March quarter, exceeding Bloomberg estimates, while revenue marginally missed expectations and guidance pointed to continued demand caution.
Consolidated net profit rose 13% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 3,502 crore from Rs 3,119 crore, above Bloomberg estimates of Rs 3,462 crore. Revenue from operations increased 2.9% sequentially to Rs 24,236 crore, slightly below estimates of Rs 24,252 crore.
Ebitda came in at Rs 4,909 crore, ahead of Bloomberg estimates of Rs 4,824 crore, reflecting margin gains during the quarter. Ebitda margin expanded to 20.3% from 18.2% in the preceding quarter.
Margin Resilience
The company retained a cautious near-term outlook. It guided for sequential revenue growth of (-)2% to 0% in constant currency for the June quarter, unchanged from the previous quarter, indicating flat to negative growth even after adjusting for currency movements.
Chief Executive Srini Pallia said margins held despite absorbing two additional months of the Harman DPS acquisition and one month of salary hikes, with some support from rupee depreciation.
Sequential growth remained uneven across segments. The flagship IT services business posted a modest 0.6% rise in revenue. Vertical performance was mixed, with BFSI and healthcare declining 1.3% and 4.4% respectively on a quarterly basis, while technology grew 5.3%. Consumer and energy segments rose 1.7% and 1.1% respectively.
Geographically, Americas 2 remained a drag with a 2.9% sequential decline, offsetting modest growth of 0.3% in Americas 1. Europe and APMEA reported sequential growth of 2% and 3% respectively.
Bookings rose 3.2% sequentially to $3.5 billion. Large deal bookings stood at $1.4 billion across 14 deals during the quarter.
Geopolitical Headwinds
Pallia attributed the muted outlook to seasonal weakness and continuing challenges with one of our clients in Americas 2. He added that a large BFSI deal win had seen delayed ramp-up. “Many of our client contracts are becoming modular, milestone driven and covered by value check points. Regardless of this environment, we continue to make decisive investments to navigate the current geopolitical scenario,” he said.
The company indicated that contributions from recent acquisitions, including Mindsprint and Alpha Net, would account for part of the June quarter revenue, implying underlying organic growth may remain weak.
On the macro environment, Pallia said there was no material impact yet from geopolitical tensions, though some clients were reassessing spending. “We haven’t seen a significant impact as of yet… but there are a couple of projects where the client wants to slow down,” he said.
Separately, Chief Human Resources Officer Saurabh Govil said the company maintains independent POSH processes with periodic reviews, commenting in the context of industry-wide scrutiny on workplace practices.