Firm says 50% of workforce is now retained and re-skilled for digital
Beating market estimates, Bengalurur-based Wipro has posted a 5.8 per cent increase in profit during the second quarter of the current financial year.
The country’s third largest IT player said its revenue from IT services increased to Rs 13,169 crore from Rs 13,137 crore, slightly above its forecast range of $1.96 billion to $2 billion. Net profit for the September quarter rose to Rs 2,192 crore from Rs 2,067 crore a year earlier.
The growth was driven by a decline in total expenses, lower finance cost and higher other income.
Sectors like banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) brought in significant growth, said the company at a media conference held at its Sarjapur Road campus on Tuesday.
"Our demand commentary is unchanged. We see strength in BFSI backed by our strong digital capabilities,’’ said Abidali Neemuchwala, CEO of Wipro.
“The performance of the ENU sector (energy natural resources and utilities) in Q2 was impacted by slower growth in the Middle East. We see continued progress in India business restructuring. Healthcare continues to be volatile due to concern around the Affordable Care Act although we are hopeful of revenues bottoming out in Q3,” Neemuchwala said.
On the digital front, Wipro has been constantly making investments in the last few years. Digital constituted 24.1 per cent of the revenues in Q2, driven by shifts of projects from traditional areas to digital in larger clients, Neemuchwala said, adding, “One-fourth of our business is now digital.”The company’ revenues from BFSI rose 8.2 per cent while the communications (telecom) business is challenged by project completions.
During Q2, Wipro opened two new pods in Mountain View, California and Edinburgh, Scotland, bringing the number of Wipro Digital pods to 16 around the globe.
Saurabh Govil, president and chief human resources officer of Wipro, said the company trained over 12,000 employees on digital skills in Q2. The company now has more than 80,000 technical employees trained on digital skills. “On the people front, we have adopted an innovative way of re-skilling. With data services, algorithm, using tools, engineering, et,c we are helping employees learn. Some 50 per cent of our workforce is now retained, re-skilled and ready for the digital space,’’ he said.
Commenting on the forecast, Neemuchwala said, "Our Q3 outlook has the seasonal impact of furloughs and higher (number of) leaves. Adjusted for the seasonality, we are seeing an improvement in our growth trajectory to match industry growth rates of $2,014 million and $2,054 million.’’Wipro filed for 80 patents in Q2, taking the total number of patent and patent applications, including for Holmes and blockchain technology, to 1,789.
