IT services major Wipro on Tuesday posted 3.4 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,465.7 crore for the quarter ended September 30, and said its board has approved up to Rs 9,500 crore buyback plan. The Bengaluru-based company, which had registered a net profit (attributable to equity holders of the company) at Rs 2,552.7 crore in the year-ago period, has priced the buyback programme at Rs 400 per share.
'There's a lot of continuity in terms of basic values and there's also a lot of new thinking based on the generational shift... it's a combination of continuity and change,' says Wipro Chief Executive Officer Abidali Neemuchwala.
The company's decision comes when there has been a dip in intake due to tepid demand, increasing automation, reports Debashis Mohapatra.
While Wipro will announce its fourth quarter (Q4) results along with annual financial statements on April 15, market leader TCS will hold its board meet the next day (April 16) for approval of its financial statements. Infosys is yet to inform investors the date it will announce its Q4 earnings.
'Young people are digital natives.' 'Hence, their ability to learn coding and to become a full stack engineer is far more.' 'The demand for such people is more as we feel that if we hire people from campuses, we can train them to become what we want.'
Trouble started brewing after Cognizant announced that Ravi Kumar, former Infosys president, would take over as the Nasdaq-listed company's CEO.
With the rush of growth after the pandemic slowing down, many leaders are moving to firms that may be smaller but are growing much faster and have the headroom to grow.
'Both campuses and talent should brace for a low-velocity campus hiring season that might extend into the off-campus period.'
The company's IT services segment had a headcount of 158,217.
Wipro, which gets bulk of its topline from IT services, said it expects revenues from that business to be in the range of $2,095 million to $2,137 million in the March quarter - a sequential growth of flat to 2 per cent.
Thierry Delaporte's pay package would be around 34 per cent higher than the total compensation that Wipro CEO Abidali Neemuchwala received in financial year 2019-20 (FY20). It also brings the Wipro CEO's salary on par with other top IT firms such as Infosys and Cognizant.
Wipro is likely to take a beating when the market commences on Thursday as analysts expressed disappointment over its just-released numbers.
While the current headcount reduction has more to do with slowing demand, the rise of artificial intelligence will impact jobs in the future.
The June quarter is usually considered as a seasonally strong period for the IT sector.
The IT services company is building underlying tech for connected cars
Wipro posted a 4.6 per cent rise in revenue at Rs 15,711 crore in January-March quarter compared to Rs 15,006.3 crore in the year-ago period.
Wipro has guided for 0.8-2.8 per cent sequential growth in IT service revenue for December quarter, saying revenue from that business is expected to be $ 2,065-2,106 million.
The Wipro board has also approved a Rs 10,500 crore buyback plan under which it will buy back up to 32.3 crore shares at Rs 325 apiece.
It had reorganised its India business by carving out public sector undertaking and government businesses. Besides the company had also split its India and West Asia businesses.
Digital, cloud, engineering services, and cybersecurity will drive Wipro's growth. 'Based on approval from the board, we have decided to step up our investments significantly in these four big bets,' Premji said in his last address as executive chairman.
Cybersecurity blog KrebsOnSecurity had said Wipro's systems had been breached and were being used to launch attacks against some of its clients.
IT majr Wipro needs stability at the top deck, say industry watchers.
Wipro Infotech - the Asia-Pacific and West-Asia arm of the $4 billion Wipro Limited - has restructured its operations. The company has transferred majority of its business to global IT division, Wipro Technologies. Wipro Infotech has also undergone other management changes, and re-alignment of various verticals. According to the mail, Anand Sankaran is being appointed chief executive of Wipro Infotech.
The IT major is donning a new face for the changing times, says Ayan Pramanik.
The IT major is donning a new face for the changing times, says Ayan Pramanik.
Wipro on Monday said its shareholders have approved the company's plans to hive off non-IT business into unlisted arm.
The contract has not only cemented the position of its chief executive officer (CEO) Abidali Neemuchwala, it has also proven the ability of the current management to successfully chase and close larger deals that are becoming scarcer in the market.
'India's top companies currently lack the organisational wherewithal to hire and train 2 million interns annually, given their current scale of operations and existing employee base.'
Wipro Technologies, the global IT services division of Wipro Ltd, and Mercury Interactive Corporation on Tuesday unveiled the Mercury Centre of Excellence (CoE) at Wipro's Electronic city campus in Bangalore.
Wipro Ltd, a provider of IT solutions and services including systems integration, information systems outsourcing and IT-enabled services, says it has not been affected by the crisis in West Asia and will continue to invest in the region. Wipro already has a company -- Wipro Arabia, formed in 2007 through a joint venture with the Dar Al Riyadh Group -- providing IT solutions and services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Speculation is rife that the number could go as high as 2,000.
With a 13 per cent rise in quarterly profit, India's third-largest software services exporter, Wipro limited, said on Wednesday that it was adapting successfully to the global meltdown.
'No one manufactures intelligence at the moment.' 'This is a concept that your IT industry understands.' 'What you need is infrastructure. Everything else can then be taken care of.'
Wipro said recently it was expecting its revenue growth to drop 2.33 per cent or stay flat between $2,015 and $2065 million.
'The race is now on for Indian IT firms to develop their AI prowess and focus on a software-first approach to services as the people element becomes more complicated with Trump's expected new regulations.'
'Abid Neemuchwala has demonstrated a deep understanding of technology, business vision, sound judgment, and an innate ability to bring people together.'
Among the 30 Sensex companies, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, Nestle, Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra and State Bank of India were the biggest laggards. In contrast, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, JSW Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and NTPC were among the biggest gainers.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Asian Paints were among the biggest gainers. In contrast, Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharma, NTPC, Wipro, State Bank of India and Power Grid were among the laggards.
