Bengaluru-based IT services company Wipro on Tuesday reported 37.7% rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,483.5 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2019. During the corresponding quarter last year, the company reported a net profit of Rs 1,803 crore (under Ind AS).

The company, however, reported 11.3% growth in total income at Rs 15,915 crore as against Rs 14,304 crore in the year-ago quarter. On a sequential quarter basis, the company's net profit dropped by 1.05% compared to Rs 2,510 crore in the third quarter ended December 2018. The revenues went up marginally by 1.45% on a sequential quarter basis compared to Rs 15,686 crore in the third quarter ended December 2018, the company said in a regulatory filing.

“Our teams have executed well on our strategy which has resulted in consistent improvement of YoY growth each quarter. We have built a strong foundation for growth on the back of healthy order book and continued investments in big bet areas of Digital,

Cybersecurity, Engineering services and Cloud. Our customers find these investments relevant as part of their digital transformation and IT Operations landscape modernisation, enabling us to win in the market”, Abidali Z Neemuchwala, CEO & Executive Director, Wipro said in a statement.

The board of directors has approved buyback proposal of Rs 10,500 crore at a buyback price of Rs 325 per share. The board approved the purchase of up to 323.1 million equity shares of Rs 2 each representing 5.35% of total paid-up equity capital from the shareholders of the company on a proportionate basis by way of a tender offer. However, the board has not recommended any final dividend. The interim dividend of Re 1 declared by the board at its meeting held on January 18, 2019 shall be considered as the final dividend for the financial year 2018-19. Thus, the total dividend for the financial year 2018-19 remains at Re 1 per equity share.

The operating margin during the quarter improved by 4.4% year on year to 19%.

Jatin Dalal, Chief Financial Officer said, “Our rigor in execution and focus on improved quality of revenues has resulted in Operating Margins expansion of 1.8% for the year. Our Operating Cash Flows was robust and 129.2% of our Net Income for the year. The announcement to buyback equity shares is part of our philosophy to deliver efficient returns to shareholders,” Jatin Dalal, Chief Financial Officer said.

The company expects revenue from IT services business to be in the range of $2,046 million to $2,087 million during the first quarter of 2019-20. This translates to a sequential growth of negative 1% to 1% growth excluding the impact of the divestment of Workday and Cornerstone On Demand business, which was concluded in the quarter ended March 2019, the company said.

Digital services contribute 34.8% of the company's total revenues. During the fourth quarter ended March 2019, Wipro added 3 accounts to $75 revenue bucket.
Wipro shares closed 2.45% lower at Rs 281.10 per share on BSE on Tuesday.