Information technology, consulting and business process services company, Wipro on Thursday announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Ampion, an Australia-based provider of cyber security, DevOps and quality engineering services. "Ampion has a successful track record and enjoys immense credibility with leading enterprises in the region, a collaborative work culture, and significant local subject matter expertise. "We see Ampion as a complementary force that will help us expand our footprint and accelerate our journey in the Asia Pacific region," CEO APMEA, Wipro, N S Bala said. Wipro's new operating model emphasises strategic investments in focus geographies, proximity to customers, agility, scale and localisation, the Bengaluru-headquartered company said in a statement.
Wipro chairman Rishad Premji on Wednesday said the company had found its 300 employees worked with one of its competitors at the same time, and added that action was taken in such cases by terminating their services. Premji asserted that he stands by his recent comments on moonlighting being a complete violation of integrity "in its deepest form". "The reality is that there are people today working for Wipro and working directly for one of our competitors and we have actually discovered 300 people in the last few months who are doing exactly that," Premji said speaking at AIMA's (All India Management Association) National Management Convention.
The top three Indian IT firms -- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro -- collectively trained over 775,000 employees in generative AI (GenAI) capability by the end of 2023-24, according to an analysis of GenAI-trained workforce of leading companies in India in this sector. This number is significantly higher that the projection made by the IT industry body Nasscom in its Strategic Review of 2023, released in February this year. It said in 2023-2024, over 650,000 employees across the IT industry received training in Gen AI skills.
BSE benchmark Sensex plummeted over 388 points to close at 58,576.37 on Tuesday, tracking weakness in index majors Wipro, RIL and Bharti Airtel amid a weak trend in global markets. Investors also remained cautious ahead of crucial macroeconomic data announcements -- industrial production for February and inflation rate for March -- post trading hours. The Sensex declined 388.20 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 58,576.37. During the day, the benchmark tanked 666 points or 1.12 per cent to 58,298.57.
The June quarter is usually considered as a seasonally strong period for the IT sector.
Management commentary on demand environment, and forward guidance will be in focus when Indian IT services players declare their September quarter results for financial year 2024-25 (Q2FY25). The industry is exepected to have continued on the path of recovery in Q2, similar to the preceding quarter, rather than sprint towards growth. The top four firms likely grew between 0 per cent and 4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), according to consensus estimates.
Wipro on Wednesday said it expects to hire about 30,000 freshers in FY23, as the IT services major strives to ensure that supply is not a constraint in managing the robust demand environment. Amid the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the COVID virus, the company remains "very vigilant", CEO and managing director Thierry Delaporte said, adding that as a proactive measure, the company has decided to close its offices globally for the next four weeks. "It is of some relief to us that about 90 per cent of our employees globally are now vaccinated with one dose of the vaccine, and over 65 per cent are fully vaccinated with the recommended two doses. "Our plans to return to the office, even in a hybrid model, for our fully vaccinated employees, will be calibrated in the context of the evolving situation, keeping both our employees' safety and client preferences in mind," Delaporte said during Wipro's Q3 earnings calls.
American chip behemoth Nvidia Corp and India's retail-to-refining giant Reliance Industries on Thursday unveiled their goal to build a formidable AI computing infrastructure in the country. Highlighting the tie-up, Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, made a broader appeal: India should focus on "manufacturing" AI, rather than racing to build semiconductor fabs. As part of this collaboration, Nvidia will reportedly supply its Blackwell AI processors to power Reliance's one-gigawatt data center in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
'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.'
The Tata Group is one of the very few Indian MNCs which has carved out a niche in China's highly competitive market, notes Rup Narayan Das.
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.
IT services major Wipro on Friday said it will give wage hikes to junior employees with effect from September 1, 2021. "Wipro Limited will initiate merit salary increases (MSI) for all eligible employees up to Band B3 (assistant manager and below), effective September 1, 2021. "In January 2021, the company had announced salary hikes for eligible employees in these bands, who form 80 per cent of the company's workforce - this is the second hike in this calendar year," Wipro said in a statement. As announced earlier, all eligible employees above band C1 (managers and above) will receive pay hikes effective June 1, it added.
IT services company Wipro Ltd on Wednesday reported about a 21 per cent year-on-year fall in its consolidated net profit to Rs 2,563.6 crore for the first quarter ended June 2022. The profit for the period (attributable to the equity holders of the company) stood at Rs 3,242.6 crore in the year-ago period. The net profit was down 20.6 per cent on a year-on-year basis, according to a filing.
Some of external candidates being considered for the post of CEO include Bhaskar Ghosh of Accenture, Ritesh Idnani of Tech Mahindra, Ravi Kumar S of Infosys, and Nitin Rakesh of Mphasis, among others.
While the current headcount reduction has more to do with slowing demand, the rise of artificial intelligence will impact jobs in the future.
Wipro chairman Rishad Premji on Sunday said its leaders will start returning to office from Monday after 18 months of work from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "After 18 long months, our leaders @Wipro are coming back to the office starting tomorrow (twice a week). All fully vaccinated, all ready to go - safely and socially distanced," Premji said in a tweet. He also shared a video about the COVID-19-related safety protocols, including temperature checks and QR code scans, that have been put in place at the Wipro office.
Markets regulator Sebi has restrained an Infosys employee and his connected person, who is an employee of Wipro Ltd, from the securities market till further orders in a matter related to alleged insider trading in Infosys shares. The market regulator has also directed impounding of illegal proceeds of Rs 2.62 crore, according to a Sebi order dated September 27. The alert system of Sebi had generated insider trading alerts for Infosys' scrip around the corporate announcement about the strategic partnership of Infosys with Vanguard.
Bengaluru-headquartered IT services major Wipro Limited on Thursday announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Capco, a global management and technology consultancy to the banking and financial services industry, for USD 1.45 billion.
IT industry's growth will largely be led by next-generation technologies and services with areas like data, cloud and cybersecurity expected to see huge incremental growth, Wipro CEO Theirry Delaporte said. Wipro has also closed several acquisitions in the second half of FY21 across key markets like the US and Europe, which has helped the Bengaluru-based company strengthen its local presence and service offerings, he said in his note in the company's FY2020-21 annual report. "We know that industry growth will largely be led by next-generation technologies and services. "We can therefore expect to see huge incremental growth in areas such as digital, cloud, data, engineering, cybersecurity.
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.
India's largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Thursday posted an 8.7 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 12,040 crore in the first quarter ended June 2024. The net profit for the year-ago period stood at Rs 11,074 crore.
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.
IT services major Wipro on Friday said it has appointed Capgemini group veteran Thierry Delaporte as its chief executive officer and managing director, effective July 6, 2020. In January this year, the company had said its CEO and Managing Director Abidali Z Neemuchwala had decided to step down from the company. Abidali Neemuchwala will relinquish his position as CEO and MD on June 1.
Trouble started brewing after Cognizant announced that Ravi Kumar, former Infosys president, would take over as the Nasdaq-listed company's CEO.
IT company Wipro posted a 17 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,930.6 crore for the quarter ended on September 30, 2021. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 2,484.4 crore in the same period a year ago. Wipro said that it has surpassed $10 billion (around Rs 75,300 crore) annualised revenue run rate.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies were the gainers. On the other hand, Titan, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance and Power Grid were among the laggards.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Power Grid, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries and NTPC were the biggest gainers. Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Titan were among the laggards.
Fear of a recession in the US due to rising unemployment has added to the concerns of India's IT services sector, which was seeing some growth returning after Q1FY25 results. The Nifty IT closed 3.26 per cent down, as major IT services companies' stock value fell. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT services firm, saw its stock price fall 4 per cent during intraday trading.
Wipro on Friday revised upwards its IT services revenue outlook to 8-10 per cent sequential growth in the June 2021 quarter, following the completion of its $1.45 billion buyout of Capco. While announcing its March quarter results earlier this month, Wipro had said it expects to log a sequential growth of 2-4 per cent in its IT services revenues in the June 2021 quarter without including revenue from Capco and Ampion acquisitions. In March, Wipro had announced the acquisition of London-headquartered Capco in a $1.45 billion (over Rs 10,500 crore) deal - its largest ever till date.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, NTPC, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro emerged as the biggest gainers. Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestle, IndusInd Bank and Sun Pharma were among the laggards.
In June, Sensex went up 6.6% and Nifty 6.9%, their best monthly gains since December 2023.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and Asian Paints were the biggest gainers. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India were among the major laggards.
IT major Wipro on Thursday reported a 35.6 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,242.6 crore for the June 2021 quarter. Wipro had registered a net profit (attributable to equity holders) of Rs 2,390.4 crore in the year-ago period, as per Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS). Its revenue from operations increased by 22.3 per cent to Rs 18,252.4 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 14,913.1 crore in the same period last fiscal, Wipro said in a regulatory filing.
From the Sensex basket, Power Grid, NTPC, JSW Steel, Asian Paints, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever and Tata Motors were the biggest gainers. On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
As the results season kicks in, the quarterly earnings numbers of several blue-chip firms -- such as Infosys and Reliance Industries -- along with global trends and trading activity of foreign investors, will determine equity market movement in the holiday-shortened week ahead, according to analysts. The domestic WPI inflation data for June -- scheduled to be announced on Monday -- will also influence trading sentiments, traders said. Markets will remain closed on Wednesday for Muharram.
From the Sensex basket, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, NTPC, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries were among the major laggards. Among the gainers, Hindustan Unilever climbed over 5 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Nestle, ITC, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the other major gainers.
The 30-share bluechip index is rebalanced on a semi-annual basis with next rejig slated for June 18.
As the job markets open up, top IT services firms may look at a tiered strategy in which they hire entry-level talents at higher salaries, amid a major technological shift, say HR analysts.
From the beginning of 2021 Wipro has moved on to a new organisational structure. Analyst tracking the company are now wondering if CEO Thierry Delaporte's attempt to bolster Wipro's presence in the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) space by acquiring Capco for $1.45 billion is a step taken too early. Though many agree that Capco as a target may be good, but Wipro, which has been the most aggressive player in acquiring firms compared to its Indian players, does not have much to show in terms of performance as it continues to lag peers.
Ukraine is currently in the middle of a strategic offensive into Russia's Kursk region.