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News >> Technology >>
Wipro Q2 net up 17% at $106.4 million
By agencies
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Wednesday, 19 October 2005, 19:30 IST
BANGALORE: Wipro Ltd., India's third-largest software exporter, reported an increase of 17 percent in its net profit the second quarter of the current financial year as Western clients led by chip makers and financial services firms ramped up technology outsourcing.
The company said its mainstay information technology (IT) unit was expected to earn $463 million in revenue in the third quarter of the financial year, up 7.5 percent from the past September quarter. But the company did not forecast its profit expectation.
Wipro's net profit for the second quarter was at $106.4 million. The Bangalore-based Wipro, which has made a string of niche acquisitions to gain access to customers, said it added 39 clients during the quarter, and hired 4,575 IT services staff to take its total workforce to 45,835.
Wipro, which develops software for chipmakers and telecommunication gear makers like Nortel and Cisco, also has interests in computer hardware and consumer goods like light bulbs and soap. Higher sales expenses and a sluggish back-office business have dented Wipro's profitability in recent quarters.
Shares in Wipro, valued at $11.8 billion, have risen just 3 percent in 2005, under-performing the benchmark IT index of Mumbai's stock exchange, which has risen 21 percent.