Wipro Limited, on Thursday, reported revenue of Rs 4,203 crore and profit after tax of Rs 726 crore for the quarter ended June 2007. Its revenue and profits for the quarter were up 34 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, against the same quarter last year.

However, when compared with March 2007 quarter, revenue and PAT were 3 per cent and 15 per cent lower, respectively.

Wipro’s revenue from global IT services and products for June quarter in dollar terms was $726.1 million, recording a year on year growth of 35 per cent. But in rupee terms, revenue stood at Rs 2,950 crore, up 20 per cent on year on year basis.

 The profit before tax for global IT services and products segment at Rs 636 crore which was only 6 per cent higher than same quarter previous year.

Explaining the slowdown in profits, Chairman Azim Premji said, “The results for the quarter are satisfying considering the strong headwinds faced by us in the form of an appreciating rupee.”
Added Chief Financial Officer Suresh Senapaty, “The rupee’s gain was a ‘big shock’ and the outlook for the currency remains uncertain. The currency’s gain reduced our profit margins by 3.4 percentage points in the quarter.”

Volume growth
Wipro’s global IT services and products added 39 new clients in the quarter. Deals won during the quarter included a $130 million five-year total outsourcing engagement from a utility company in Europe. “Our IT services business continued to witness broad based growth, accross all verticals, geographies and service lines,” Mr Premji said. Meanwhile, Wipro’s IT services and products business including India, Middle East & Asia Pacific recorded Rs 750 crore revenue, 64 per cent higher than June quarter last year. The consumer care and lighting business had a revenue of Rs 235 crore, a growth of 33 per cent year on year basis.

Unza acqusition
During the quarter, our consumer care and lighting business took a big leap by acquiring Unza, South East Asia’s leading personal care company. This was an important step for the business as we saw large opportunities in the emerging Asian economies, Mr Premji added.

 At the end of the day Wirpo’s shares remained flat at Rs 505 after being in the red for most part of the day.