Wipro posts 6.3% YoY fall in Q4 profit; skips revenue guidance for Q1FY21

Wipro on Wednesday posted a 6.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in its net profit at Rs 2,326.1 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. On a sequential basis, the numbers slipped 5.28 per cent. 

Revenue from operations stood at Rs 15,711 crore, up 4.69 per cent against Rs 15,006.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. IT Services Segment Revenue was at $2,073.7 million, a decrease of 1 per cent QoQ while IT Services Operating Margin for the quarter was at 17.6 per cent, a decrease of 0.8 per cent QoQ. 

Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter was Rs 4.09 per share, a decrease of 1.1 per cent YoY. The Board has not recommended any final dividend. The interim dividend of Re 1 declared by the Board at its meeting held on January 14, 2020 shall be considered as the final dividend for the financial year 2019-20. Thus, the total dividend for the financial year 2019-20 remains Re 1 per equity share. 

"Wipro’s US dollar revenue is expected to decline by 0.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to $2,086 million led by weak Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), Covid-19 impact (nearly two weeks) and fall in crude oil prices," analysts at HDFC Securities had written in an earnings preview note.

The brokerage expected the consolidated earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margin to decline 24 basis points (bps) to 16.9 per cent during the period while its IT services EBIT margin was expected to drop by 30 basis points (bps) QoQ to 18.1 per cent, led by lower revenue and cross currency impact offset by rupee depreciation and lower travel cost.

On the other hand, those at Kotak Securities had expected a 3.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in the company's revenue (net sales) at Rs 15,697.7 crore. On QoQ basis, the numbers were expected to grow 1 per cent. Reported PAT (profit after tax) was projected to come in at Rs 2,586.6 crore, up 4.2 per cent YoY and 5.3 per cent QoQ.

Wipro Q4 result

Meanwhile, the company has not given any forward-looking guidance due to uncertainty related to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

"Due to the uncertainty around the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we do not have visibility into the extent to which it will disrupt our operations, and we have decided to not provide revenue guidance for the quarter ending June 30, 2020. We anticipate that we will resume providing revenue guidance when we have increased certainty of both demand and supply side factors," Wipro said in a results release.