Wipro Q4 profit rises 4 pc to Rs 3,092 cr, revenue up 28pc

New Delhi: IT company Wipro on Friday posted a 4 per cent increase in its consolidated profit to Rs 3,092.5 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022, on account of continued demand for IT services.

The company had registered a profit of Rs 2,974.1 crore in the same period a year ago.

The March 2022 quarter was the sixth straight quarter of revenue growth for Wipro at over 3 per cent. The company's annual revenue crossed the USD 10 billion mark for the first time.

For the year ended March 31, 2022, Wipro posted a 12.57 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 12,232.9 crore compared to Rs 10,866.2 crore it recorded a year ago.

"Crossing USD 10 billion in revenue is a significant landmark for us. So we are now aiming higher. revenue growth has been our fastest ever. In absolute terms, we have added one-fourth of our total revenue just this year," Wipro CEO and managing director Thierry Delaporte said.

Wipro's consolidated revenue from operations during the January-March quarter grew by about 28 per cent to Rs 20,860 crore from Rs 16,245.4 crore.

Its annual revenue from operations jumped 28 per cent to Rs 79,747.5 crore in the last fiscal from Rs 62,234.4 crore in 2020-21.

Talking about the quarterly outlook, the Wipro CEO said that he expects the company's revenue to grow by 1-3 per cent.

"We have guided for revenue growth of 1 to 3 per cent which will translate to a growth of 16 to 18 per cent on a year on year basis in constant currency. While we don't provide annual guidance, I want to confirm that we expect to grow in double digits for the 2023 fiscal year as well," Delaporte said.

He said the margins in the medium term are expected to be in the band of 17-17.5 per cent.

"However, for the next two three quarters, we will see slightly lower margins. This is because of the investments we have made," Delaporte said.

The company added 45,416 new employees in FY22, which is the highest ever for the company.

"We doubled our fresher intake for the fiscal year 2022 when compared to the previous year. Our plan is to double this again in the fiscal year 2023. We have decided to increase the frequency of promotion cycles for 70 per cent of our colleagues in junior bands to a quarterly basis," Delaporte said.

During the financial year (FY) 2022, Wipro closed 37 large deals resulting in a total contract value of over USD 2.3 billion (about Rs 17,602 crore).

"Our order booking in annual contract value terms grew 30 per cent year on year and we are finishing off the year with the highest ever pipeline," Delaporte said.

He said that all Wipro markets grew in double-digit with Americas and Europe recording growth of 28 per cent and 36 per cent year on year respectively in the March 2022 quarter and 26 per cent and 39 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fiscal year 2022.

"Our efforts on client mining have resulted in an addition of eight customers in more than USD 100 million bucket on a YoY (year-on-year) basis. We delivered operating margins of 17.7 per cent for the year, after significant investments in solutions, capabilities and talent. Net income for the year was highest ever at USD 1.6 billion and delivered robust growth in EPS of 17 per cent YoY," Wipro chief financial officer Jatin Dalal said.

Gartner senior director analyst DD Mishra said Wipro's results are on expected lines, and it has a healthy pipeline.

"They are focused on developing vertical solutions such as financial services, healthcare and smart cities as a part of that strategy. Alongside, Wipro is committed to its sustainability initiatives. For Wipro to drive better quality and engagement, it will be imperative for them to advance the organizational changes.

"They also need to focus more on controlling the attrition which continues to be one of the most pressing challenges the industry faces currently," Mishra said.