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IT major Wipro on Friday posted a 4.6 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit for the June quarter at Rs 3,003.2 crore.
The Q1 FY25 revenue of the Bengaluru-headquartered firm fell 3.8 per cent to Rs 21,963.8 crore.
The firm gave a rather flat outlook for the quarter ending September 2024 and said it expects revenue from the IT services business segment to be in the range of $2,600 million to $2,652 million, translating to a sequential guidance of (-)1 per cent to +1 per cent in constant currency terms.
Wipro's top management said the company is poised better than it was at the start of the June quarter.
"As we move into Q2, we believe that we are in a better position compared to the start of Q1.
“For Q2, we are guiding for a sequential revenue growth of -1.0 per cent to +1.0 per cent in constant currency.
“We are confident that we can sustain our margins within a narrow band with an upward bias in the coming quarters," Srini Pallia, CEO and managing director of Wipro, said.
In dollar terms, IT services revenue for the company came in at $2,625.9 million, down 1.2 per cent sequentially.
"In Q1, we did not see the significant shift in the demand environment.
“Client remained cautious, and discretionary spending continued to be muted," Pallia said, during the company's earnings call.
Geographically, 'Americas 1' brought in the largest share of revenue with 30.9 per cent, closely followed by 'Americas 2' at 30.8 per cent, with Europe (27.6 per cent) and APMEA-Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (10.7 per cent) further down the line.
"The initial climb is both challenging and exciting, and as a hiker, I am pleased with the momentum we have built in Q1.
“Across the company, I have noticed, fresh energy and renewed dedication towards achieving our goals.
“And with the commitment and passion of our 2,30,000 plus employees across the world, I firmly believe we will seize market opportunities ahead of us and will continue to progress steadily, one step at a time," Pallia affirmed.
The IT major's total headcount stood at 234,391 at the end of the quarter under review, with voluntary attrition at 14.1 per cent.
"We are seeing a marginal improvement in headcount.
“After a break of a year, we have started onboarding freshers from campus.
“We onboarded about 3,000 people in this quarter," Wipro chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil said.
He said the firm would be completing all the backlogs of offers it made in this fiscal, and looks to hire 10,000-12,000 people in this and the next fiscal.
"We would be onboarding around 10,000-12,000 people in this fiscal.
“We also have relationships and partnerships with certain institutes, so we will go to these institutes and off-campus for hiring...," he said, adding that the firm is looking for similar numbers next year.
"Very clearly, we are building muscle so that we are there -- ready -- as growth comes back," he said.
Wipro's larger peers Infosys and TCS have announced plans to hire around 20,000 and 40,000 freshers, respectively, this fiscal year.
The Bengaluru-based company declined comment on the controversial Karnataka reservation bill, stating that it will only make a statement once a clearer picture is available.
Regarding the massive global outage in Microsoft's systems on Friday, Wipro said its own systems were not affected, and it is assisting clients in the US and Europe who are facing challenges.
“One, no impact to Wipro. Two, we are actually talking to the clients, trying to step up and help them because we are following the sun model -- Europe and the US -- and we are seeing the impact of cloud strike (there)...
"...we are ramping up ourselves to help our clients," Pallia said.
Shares of Wipro settled at Rs 557.25 apiece on the BSE on Friday, down 2.78 per cent from the previous close.