U.S. dollar, economy weigh on Wipro results

Indian outsourcer Wipro posted revenue growth of 32% in the year ended March 31, but profit growth was slower at 11%. The financial results of India's third-largest outsourcer come in the wake of concerns about a slow-down in the US, and the continuing appreciation of the Indian rupee against the U.S. dollar.

Given the uncertainty in the environment, the company remain cautious but resilient, Wipro said Friday.

Wipro posted revenue of 197.43 billion rupees ($5 billion at the exchange rate on the last day of the fiscal year), and profits of 32.24 billion rupees for the year. Wipro has both a domestic and export business. Its Global IT Services and Products business, which handles most of the outsourcing work for customers abroad, had revenue of 136.28 billion rupees, an increase of 23% over the previous year.

The results are based on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

The company's export business had 82,122 employees as of March 31, which included 61,844 employees in IT Services and 20,278 employees in its BPO (business process outsourcing) business. The company competes for staff and business with multinational services companies like Accenture and IBM, and technology companies like Dell that have set up large delivery operations in India.

As a part of its strategy of building services delivery capabilities from worldwide locations, Wipro added BPO centers in Cebu in the Philippines and Wroclaw in Poland during the year. The company is also setting up a facility in Atlanta, Georgia as customers are demanding that their suppliers set up facilities closer to their sites.

Earlier this week, Infosys Technologies, India's second-largest outsourcer reported revenue and profit growth for the year. But both revenue and profit growth were far lower than in the previous year, because of the economic uncertainty in the U.S. Some analyst firms however say that except for a short-term slowdown, a recession in the U.S. could benefit Indian outsourcers as U.S. companies look to cut costs offshore.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.