The Congress today said there was no question of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh resigning before the July 22 trust vote as he will comfortably win the trial of strength.
"The question does not arise as he will win the trust vote comfortably," Congress media department chief M Veeraapa Moily said on being asked by reporters whether PM would step down before Tuesday's vote in Lok Sabha.
Asked about Congress President Sonia Gandhi meeting with party MPs, Moily said "the MPs are meeting her out of courtesy and they are politically mature enough to take the message of benefits of nuclear deal to the people." Moily said the Congress has information that some MPs from Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and BJP would abstain but declined to name them.
In reply to a question whether the JMM MPs are on board, Moily said "as of now they are with the UPA." On getting the support of Ajit Singh-led RLD, the senior Congress leader said, "Ajit Singh will take his own decision." PTI
Saturday, July 19, 2008
CPM's central committee meeting holds key
The CPI(M)'s Central Committee would begin a crucial meet in New Delhi on Saturday to chart out its role in the prevailing political turmoil, even as it left out Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the whip to vote against the Government during the confidence motion on July 22.
The exclusion of Chatterjee is significant as the CPI (M) has so far maintained that he should toe the party line to vote against the government.
A day ahead of the two-day meet of the decision-making body, a three-line whip was issued to 41 CPI(M) MPs asking them to reach the national capital on July 20 and be present in Lok Sabha on the next two days besides voting against the government. Besides Chatterjee, Left-backed independent from Kerala, Sebastian Paul, has also been left out.
CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat while maintaining that it was for the Speaker to take a decision on resigning his post, contended that a person holding this high office does not cease to have political affiliations.
"After someone ceases to be a Speaker, they resume political activities," he said in a recent interview.
"We don't follow the British precedent in India...we have a former Speaker as the Home Minister and another former Speaker is the leader of one of the opposition groups in Lok Sabha. So all this talk of Speaker sans party and politics is hypocritical," he said.
The Central Committee would debate the decisions taken by the Politburo in the recent past, including the talks the top CPI(M) leadership has been holding with several political leaders like UP Chief Minister Mayawati and others.
The exclusion of Chatterjee is significant as the CPI (M) has so far maintained that he should toe the party line to vote against the government.
A day ahead of the two-day meet of the decision-making body, a three-line whip was issued to 41 CPI(M) MPs asking them to reach the national capital on July 20 and be present in Lok Sabha on the next two days besides voting against the government. Besides Chatterjee, Left-backed independent from Kerala, Sebastian Paul, has also been left out.
CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat while maintaining that it was for the Speaker to take a decision on resigning his post, contended that a person holding this high office does not cease to have political affiliations.
"After someone ceases to be a Speaker, they resume political activities," he said in a recent interview.
"We don't follow the British precedent in India...we have a former Speaker as the Home Minister and another former Speaker is the leader of one of the opposition groups in Lok Sabha. So all this talk of Speaker sans party and politics is hypocritical," he said.
The Central Committee would debate the decisions taken by the Politburo in the recent past, including the talks the top CPI(M) leadership has been holding with several political leaders like UP Chief Minister Mayawati and others.
IAEA OK with safeguards agreement: Sources
A fifty minute long closed-door affair in a Vienna hotel was what it took for Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and his team of Indian diplomats to convince the IAEA board members on the merits of the safeguards agreement.
In all, ninety diplomats headed up to listen to India's case.
A western diplomat told NDTV that the group had many questions but India answered them all. When asked whether it was a good meeting he said 'yes'. When asked further as to whether he was convinced that it was a good safeguards agreement the answer was again a 'yes'.
At the lobbying exercise that India undertook with the sixty member countries of the IAEA, things seem to have gone in India's favour but we have to wait and watch to see what happens on August 1 in the IAEA.
In all, ninety diplomats headed up to listen to India's case.
A western diplomat told NDTV that the group had many questions but India answered them all. When asked whether it was a good meeting he said 'yes'. When asked further as to whether he was convinced that it was a good safeguards agreement the answer was again a 'yes'.
At the lobbying exercise that India undertook with the sixty member countries of the IAEA, things seem to have gone in India's favour but we have to wait and watch to see what happens on August 1 in the IAEA.
Yahoo proxy may come down to battle of big funds
It looks like the bar room tete-a-tete in Sun Valley, Idaho last week may have helped one of Yahoo Inc.'s biggest institutional shareholders make up his mind.
Friday's news from Bill Miller, chairman and chief investment officer of Legg Mason, that he intends to support Yahoo (YHOO:YHOO
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YHOO, , ) management in its proxy fight with activist investor Carl Icahn was a big coup for embattled Jerry Yang & Co. See full story.
It was also a possible endorsement of the persuasive powers of Yahoo president Sue Decker, who was spotted last week at a table in the back of a bar conversing with Miller, Larry Page, co-founder of Google Inc. (GOOG:GOOG
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GOOG, , ) and oddly enough, former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel, at the media mogul fest in Sun Valley.
Now that Miller has indicated which way he is voting Legg Mason's 4.4% stake in Yahoo, all eyes will be on other institutions with large holdings in the Internet portal. Perhaps one of the most influential is Gordon Crawford, a portfolio manager at Capital Research Global Investors. Its parent company, Capital Group Cos. has at least three funds with a combined stake of nearly 17% in Yahoo, making it the largest institutional holder. Capital's funds also own a combined stake of nearly 6% in Microsoft (MSFT:MSFT
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A Capital spokesman declined to comment on how the funds plan to vote their shares on Friday. But it is worth noting that in May, during Microsoft's attempt to buy Yahoo, Crawford has made some unusually sharp statements, saying he was "extremely disappointed in Jerry Yang." While Crawford's fund also owns Microsoft, Miller's fund does not.
Some pundits have speculated large institutional shareholders do not typically lead activist campaigns. But Miller coming out with a statement in support of Yahoo management two weeks ahead of the much-anticipated shareholder meeting scheduled for August 1 could inspire other funds to try and persuade other investors to take their side. See full story.
Two other interesting players to watch will be the institutional shareholder advisory firms, such as RiskMetrics and Glass Lewis, which make recommendations to institutions.
Friday's news from Bill Miller, chairman and chief investment officer of Legg Mason, that he intends to support Yahoo (YHOO:YHOO
News, chart, profile, more
Last:
Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio
Analyst
Create alertInsider
Discuss
Financials
Sponsored by:
YHOO, , ) management in its proxy fight with activist investor Carl Icahn was a big coup for embattled Jerry Yang & Co. See full story.
It was also a possible endorsement of the persuasive powers of Yahoo president Sue Decker, who was spotted last week at a table in the back of a bar conversing with Miller, Larry Page, co-founder of Google Inc. (GOOG:GOOG
News, chart, profile, more
Last:
Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio
Analyst
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Sponsored by:
GOOG, , ) and oddly enough, former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel, at the media mogul fest in Sun Valley.
Now that Miller has indicated which way he is voting Legg Mason's 4.4% stake in Yahoo, all eyes will be on other institutions with large holdings in the Internet portal. Perhaps one of the most influential is Gordon Crawford, a portfolio manager at Capital Research Global Investors. Its parent company, Capital Group Cos. has at least three funds with a combined stake of nearly 17% in Yahoo, making it the largest institutional holder. Capital's funds also own a combined stake of nearly 6% in Microsoft (MSFT:MSFT
News, chart, profile, more
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Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio
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Sponsored by:
MSFT, , ) , Yahoo's spurned suitor.
A Capital spokesman declined to comment on how the funds plan to vote their shares on Friday. But it is worth noting that in May, during Microsoft's attempt to buy Yahoo, Crawford has made some unusually sharp statements, saying he was "extremely disappointed in Jerry Yang." While Crawford's fund also owns Microsoft, Miller's fund does not.
Some pundits have speculated large institutional shareholders do not typically lead activist campaigns. But Miller coming out with a statement in support of Yahoo management two weeks ahead of the much-anticipated shareholder meeting scheduled for August 1 could inspire other funds to try and persuade other investors to take their side. See full story.
Two other interesting players to watch will be the institutional shareholder advisory firms, such as RiskMetrics and Glass Lewis, which make recommendations to institutions.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Israel makes arrests in alleged plot against Bush
- Israel accused six Arabs on Friday of trying to set up an al Qaeda cell in Israel and said one of them had proposed attacking helicopters used during a visit by President George W. Bush.
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Israel's Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said one of the suspects had used his mobile phone to film helicopters at a sports stadium in Jerusalem that was used as a landing site for Bush's delegation.
The suspect then posted queries on Web sites frequented by al Qaeda operatives, asking for guidance on how to shoot down the helicopters, the agency said in a statement.
Bush visited Israel in January and again in May.
Lawyers for the six suspects could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Shin Bet identified four of the suspects as Palestinian residents of Arab East Jerusalem and two as Israeli Arabs.
The Shin Bet said the men had met several times at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, seeking to organize a local al Qaeda network. The agency said computers seized from several of the suspects contained bomb-making manuals.
Earlier this month, Israel indicted two of its Bedouin Arab citizens for links to al Qaeda and for planning attacks inside the Jewish state.
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Israel's Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said one of the suspects had used his mobile phone to film helicopters at a sports stadium in Jerusalem that was used as a landing site for Bush's delegation.
The suspect then posted queries on Web sites frequented by al Qaeda operatives, asking for guidance on how to shoot down the helicopters, the agency said in a statement.
Bush visited Israel in January and again in May.
Lawyers for the six suspects could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Shin Bet identified four of the suspects as Palestinian residents of Arab East Jerusalem and two as Israeli Arabs.
The Shin Bet said the men had met several times at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, seeking to organize a local al Qaeda network. The agency said computers seized from several of the suspects contained bomb-making manuals.
Earlier this month, Israel indicted two of its Bedouin Arab citizens for links to al Qaeda and for planning attacks inside the Jewish state.
Trusting Congress bosses was a mistake: Karat
For the first time since the controversy involving Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee erupted, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has spoken out. He felt it was silly to look upon the Speaker as partyless. In an exclusive interview, he told TOI , "This talk of a Speaker without a party and politics is hypocritical."
While stating that Chatterjee himself would take a decision on whether or not to step down, Karat said, "By holding the post of the Speaker, a person does not cease to have political affiliations."
Karat touched on a number of crucial political issues in the interview. He revealed that the first indication of the UPA going ahead with the nuclear deal came in June. He didn't regret letting the government go to the IAEA at that stage, but wondered aloud "if it was a mistake to believe in the word given by the Congress leadership, which included the PM".
He indicated that it would be tough for the Left to work with the Congress again. Referring to the moves to get jailed MPs to vote for the government, he referred to the JMM bribery case and said, "Let's hope history does not repeat itself."
Excerpts from an exclusive interview
When did you get the first indication that government would go ahead and finalise IAEA safeguards agreement?
In June. The Congress leadership, in the run-up to the UPA-Left committee meeting, informed us that they were determined to go ahead to the IAEA.
Do you think letting government go to IAEA was a mistake?
We should ask ourselves whether it was a mistake to believe in the word given by the Congress leadership which included the PM. On November 10, 2007, there had been a meeting in the PM's house where an understanding was arrived at.
Why do you think there was a sudden rush to clinch the deal? Is it just that time was running out or something else?
I think time was running out for the US (Bush administration) to get the deal through the various stages, particularly in the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The PM definitely is the main mover behind the deal. As far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, I am told, he is in favour of the strategic alliance with US.
Will Left do business with Congress after the next general election?
The situation after the next election will be different. We will have to factor in the position of the parties regarding the nuclear deal and the strategic alliance with the US, apart from the consideration of having a secular government.
What will be Left's attitude to UPA allies in the future?
We will have to see. We will have to consider what their relations will be with the Congress at the time of the elections.
Why did SP to move away from Left? This is the third time SP has moved away from Left at a crucial juncture?
We had got some indications from the SP leadership. They were frank enough to discuss the developing situation vis-a-vis the Congress with us. I think the political situation in UP was uppermost in their mind.
While stating that Chatterjee himself would take a decision on whether or not to step down, Karat said, "By holding the post of the Speaker, a person does not cease to have political affiliations."
Karat touched on a number of crucial political issues in the interview. He revealed that the first indication of the UPA going ahead with the nuclear deal came in June. He didn't regret letting the government go to the IAEA at that stage, but wondered aloud "if it was a mistake to believe in the word given by the Congress leadership, which included the PM".
He indicated that it would be tough for the Left to work with the Congress again. Referring to the moves to get jailed MPs to vote for the government, he referred to the JMM bribery case and said, "Let's hope history does not repeat itself."
Excerpts from an exclusive interview
When did you get the first indication that government would go ahead and finalise IAEA safeguards agreement?
In June. The Congress leadership, in the run-up to the UPA-Left committee meeting, informed us that they were determined to go ahead to the IAEA.
Do you think letting government go to IAEA was a mistake?
We should ask ourselves whether it was a mistake to believe in the word given by the Congress leadership which included the PM. On November 10, 2007, there had been a meeting in the PM's house where an understanding was arrived at.
Why do you think there was a sudden rush to clinch the deal? Is it just that time was running out or something else?
I think time was running out for the US (Bush administration) to get the deal through the various stages, particularly in the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The PM definitely is the main mover behind the deal. As far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, I am told, he is in favour of the strategic alliance with US.
Will Left do business with Congress after the next general election?
The situation after the next election will be different. We will have to factor in the position of the parties regarding the nuclear deal and the strategic alliance with the US, apart from the consideration of having a secular government.
What will be Left's attitude to UPA allies in the future?
We will have to see. We will have to consider what their relations will be with the Congress at the time of the elections.
Why did SP to move away from Left? This is the third time SP has moved away from Left at a crucial juncture?
We had got some indications from the SP leadership. They were frank enough to discuss the developing situation vis-a-vis the Congress with us. I think the political situation in UP was uppermost in their mind.
Wipro records 43% YoY growth in revenues (Indian GAAP)
Wipro Limited today announced its results approved by the Board of Directors for the quarter ended June 30, 2008.
Highlights of the Results
· Wipro Limited Revenue increased by 43% Year on Year (YoY) to Rs. 59.67 billion (Rs. 5,967 Crores); Profit After Tax (PAT) grew by 25% YoY to Rs. 9.08 billion (Rs. 908 Crores).
· IT Services Revenue in dollar terms was $1067 million, a sequential growth of 3.5% and YoY growth of 37%. In rupee terms, Revenue stood at Rs. 44.05 billion (Rs. 4,405 Crores), a YoY growth of 39%.
· Profit Before Interest & Tax (PBIT) for IT Services segment was Rs. 9.19 billion, a growth of 37% YoY.
· Wipro won the SAP Pinnacle Award for thought leadership around enterprise SOA.
· IT Services added 31 new clients during the quarter.
· IT Products business recorded a 44% YoY growth in Revenues and 7% YoY growth in PBIT.
· Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting business Revenue grew 119% YoY and PBIT grew 100% YoY.
Performance for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 and Outlook for quarter ending September 30, 2008
Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro, commenting on the results said - “We have had another satisfying quarter. Revenues from our IT Services were $1,067 million for the quarter, ahead of our guidance of $1,060 million. In the backdrop of significant economic uncertainty, our Financial Services and Retail businesses demonstrated their resilience. We had strong growth in our differentiated Service lines like Testing, TIS and BPO. Our strategy of focusing on MEGA/GAMA accounts is delivering results with top customers growing ahead of company average. We improved on several of operational parameters during the quarter.
Given the environment, we remain cautious in the near-term. Looking ahead, for the quarter ending September 2008, we expect our Revenue from our IT Services business to be approximately $1089 million.”
Suresh Senapaty, Chief Financial Officer of Wipro, said – “During the quarter ended June 2008, we were able to sustain margins in spite of Restricted Stock Units grants. Rate Realization and Utilization improved sequentially by 300 basis points and 50 basis points respectively. We have won 7 multi-year multi-million dollar deals and added 31 new customers during the quarter. We added another customer to our $100 million customer list.”
Wipro Limited
Revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, were Rs. 59.67 billion, representing a 43% increase YoY. Profit after Tax for the quarter was Rs. 9.08 billion, an increase of 25% YoY.
IT Services
IT Services business reported Revenues of Rs. 44.04 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, representing an increase of 39% YoY and PBIT of Rs. 9.19 billion, representing an increase of 37% YoY. Operating Income to Revenue for the quarter was 20.9%.
We had 95,675 employees as of June 30, 2008, which includes 74,838 employees in our IT business unit and 20,837 employees in our BPO business unit. We added 31 new clients during the quarter, of which 4 were Global 500 or Fortune 1000 companies.
Wipro is helping a Large European Energy Equipment Manufacturer in their next generation application management initiative. This engagement will cover business solutions supporting the North American division of the customer, including Manufacturing, Sales and Services, Finance and Control, Product management and Marketing. As part of the engagement, Wipro will provide the customer with real-time information on the performance and health of the IT application platform and improve the overall operational efficiency.
A Worldwide leader in the manufacture of high-quality audio and electronic products chose Wipro for providing end to end management of its IT Infrastructure across Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. This multi million dollar engagement spans 7 years.
Wipro was chosen as the Key strategic partner by a Global Apparel & Footwear manufacturer for a wide spread of their application landscape. Some of them involve holistic support for their critical global systems in the B2B space, Sales order capture, all supporting transactions and its associated reporting needs, which form a part of the customer's strategic visioning and internal development of their robust sales systems.
A Global integrated Steel major has engaged Wipro as the system integration partner for transforming its core manufacturing execution business solution. Wipro will program manage this initiative to implement consolidated and simplified business processes targeted towards inventory reduction. The program will entail redesign of the shop floor process including Planning & Scheduling and Production Execution along with IT application rationalization.
Wipro is designing and deploying a solution to enable supply chain visibility for a large automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). This solution is designed to bring in a unified global process for tracking vehicles once they leave the factory on intercontinental transport till they reach the dealers. These applications are scalable for the future growing needs of the OEM and planned to be deployed across geographies.
In the transportation Industry group, Wipro won a large deal from one of the leading Mail & Express company in Europe. This is a multi-million dollar 5 year deal consisting of SAP Finance and Procurement Support , SAP HR Rollout & Support and SAP FSCM implementation Rollout.
Wipro is also providing Global Support for SAP applications for a Leading Alcoholic Beverages company deploying the Flexible Delivery Model. This has enabled faster ramp up and ramp down as per business demand, wider shift coverage, better service levels, and higher productivity gain for the customer at an optimized cost.
Wipro Arabia won a large multi-million dollar turnkey IT Solutions and Infrastructure Services project from a leading Govt. owned technology institute based in the Middle East. Other key wins in the Indian market for the quarter include a 10 year Total Outsourcing Contract with a large realty company, a comprehensive SAP implementation suite at a large public sector enterprise, an end-to-end Data Warehousing Implementation at a large PSU Bank and Infrastructure Integration & Management contracts from a large Retail chain.
IT Services business accounted for 74% of Revenue and 90% of PBIT for the Quarter ended June 30, 2008.
Applied Innovation
As a part of its effort for continuous Innovation in delivery, Wipro has invested in outcome based models and we are seeing increased customer interest. This result based model has inherent benefits like improvement in service levels and end-user experience. FlexDelivery is one such model for managing enterprise applications and we now have six clients using this model out which three were added in the last quarter.
We launched Cigma (Center for Integrated Global Management of Applications), offering a 360 degree Services capability for managing the application landscape of an enterprise spread across the globe. This service offers the unique capability of providing an outcome based model based on SLA’s (service level agreements) as well as BLA’s (business level agreements) to customers. Cigma is currently made available to clients in the manufacturing space.
Taking the message of Applied Innovation further, Wipro pioneered Innovative Green practices to hold a global carbon neutral event-“Mandala”. Mandala is a global customer forum where Wipro’s customers, thought leaders and senior management meet to debate, exchange ideas and share best practices in key areas that will shape the future of the global industry. Wipro also announced its membership in The Green Grid, a global consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems.
Awards and Recognition:
Wipro won the SAP Pinnacle Award for thought leadership around enterprise SOA. This global award recognizes partners who make exemplary contribution to SAP’s ecosystem.
This quarter, Wipro was also recognized by Emerson Rosemount as top IT partner for Continuous Improvement in the areas of Quality, Speed, Flexibility, Service, Technology, and Cost. Wipro is the only IT Services Company till date that has been recognized by Emerson.
Wipro was awarded the Top Network Integrator award for the fourth consecutive year by Voice and Data, and was also ranked as the best APAC partner by Netapp.
Wipro has won the Partner of the year award from IBM and the Fastest growing Solution Partner award for Asia Pacific from Packeteer.
IT Products
For the quarter ended June 30, 2008, IT Products business recorded Revenues of Rs.7.5 billion, representing a growth of 44% YoY. PBIT grew by 7% YoY to Rs. 249 million. Operating Income to Revenue for the quarter was 3.3%.
IT Products business accounted for 12.5% of the Revenue and 2% of the PBIT for the quarter ended June 30, 2008.
Consumer Care & Lighting
For the quarter ended June 30, 2008, our Consumer Care and Lighting business recorded Revenues of Rs. 5.13 billion, a growth of 119% YoY and PBIT of Rs. 609 million, a growth of 100% YoY. PBIT to Revenue was 11.9% for the quarter.
Consumer Care & Lighting business accounted for 9% of the Revenue and 6% of the PBIT for the quarter ended June 30, 2008.
Wipro Limited
For the quarter ended June 30, 2008, the Return on capital Employed in IT business was 41% and Consumer Care & Lighting business was 14%. At the Company level, the Return on Capital Employed was 25%, lower due to inclusion of cash and cash equivalents of Rs. 56 billion in Capital Employed (33% of Capital Employed).
For Wipro Limited, Profit after Tax computed in accordance with US GAAP for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, was Rs. 8.14 billion. The net difference between Profits computed in accordance with Indian GAAP and US GAAP is primarily due to different Revenue recognition standards, income taxes, amortization of intangible assets, differences in accounting treatment for hedge accounting for foreign currency loan and related currency swaps and India fringe benefit tax.
For Wipro Limited, Non-US GAAP adjusted Profit after Tax for the quarter ended June 30 2008, was Rs. 8.85 billion. The net difference between Profits computed in accordance with Indian GAAP and Non-US GAAP adjusted is primarily due to different Revenue recognition standards, income taxes, and amortization of intangible assets.
IT Services segment’s Revenues were Rs. 43.93 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, under US GAAP.
The difference of Rs. 112 million is primarily attributable to difference in accounting standards under Indian GAAP and US GAAP.
On April 18, 2008, the Company announced changes to the management structure of IT Business and appointed Joint CEO’s to head the IT business. Consequent to this re -organization, the Company identified IT Services and IT Products as the reportable segments relating to the IT businesses. There is no change in the reportable segments for other businesses. Segment information in respect of earlier period has been revised to conform to the presentation as per new reportable segments.
Wipro's Q1 FY09 PAT up 4.2% (QoQ)
Wipro Q1 net profit seen at Rs 873.9 crFrom the Wipro Message Board
Q1 results 09
Highlights of the Results
· Wipro Limited Revenue increased by 43% Year on Year (YoY) to Rs. 59.67 billion (Rs. 5,967 Crores); Profit After Tax (PAT) grew by 25% YoY to Rs. 9.08 billion (Rs. 908 Crores).
· IT Services Revenue in dollar terms was $1067 million, a sequential growth of 3.5% and YoY growth of 37%. In rupee terms, Revenue stood at Rs. 44.05 billion (Rs. 4,405 Crores), a YoY growth of 39%.
· Profit Before Interest & Tax (PBIT) for IT Services segment was Rs. 9.19 billion, a growth of 37% YoY.
· Wipro won the SAP Pinnacle Award for thought leadership around enterprise SOA.
· IT Services added 31 new clients during the quarter.
· IT Products business recorded a 44% YoY growth in Revenues and 7% YoY growth in PBIT.
· Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting business Revenue grew 119% YoY and PBIT grew 100% YoY.
Performance for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 and Outlook for quarter ending September 30, 2008
Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro, commenting on the results said - “We have had another satisfying quarter. Revenues from our IT Services were $1,067 million for the quarter, ahead of our guidance of $1,060 million. In the backdrop of significant economic uncertainty, our Financial Services and Retail businesses demonstrated their resilience. We had strong growth in our differentiated Service lines like Testing, TIS and BPO. Our strategy of focusing on MEGA/GAMA accounts is delivering results with top customers growing ahead of company average. We improved on several of operational parameters during the quarter.
Given the environment, we remain cautious in the near-term. Looking ahead, for the quarter ending September 2008, we expect our Revenue from our IT Services business to be approximately $1089 million.”
Suresh Senapaty, Chief Financial Officer of Wipro, said – “During the quarter ended June 2008, we were able to sustain margins in spite of Restricted Stock Units grants. Rate Realization and Utilization improved sequentially by 300 basis points and 50 basis points respectively. We have won 7 multi-year multi-million dollar deals and added 31 new customers during the quarter. We added another customer to our $100 million customer list.”
Wipro Limited
Revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, were Rs. 59.67 billion, representing a 43% increase YoY. Profit after Tax for the quarter was Rs. 9.08 billion, an increase of 25% YoY.
IT Services
IT Services business reported Revenues of Rs. 44.04 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, representing an increase of 39% YoY and PBIT of Rs. 9.19 billion, representing an increase of 37% YoY. Operating Income to Revenue for the quarter was 20.9%.
We had 95,675 employees as of June 30, 2008, which includes 74,838 employees in our IT business unit and 20,837 employees in our BPO business unit. We added 31 new clients during the quarter, of which 4 were Global 500 or Fortune 1000 companies.
Wipro is helping a Large European Energy Equipment Manufacturer in their next generation application management initiative. This engagement will cover business solutions supporting the North American division of the customer, including Manufacturing, Sales and Services, Finance and Control, Product management and Marketing. As part of the engagement, Wipro will provide the customer with real-time information on the performance and health of the IT application platform and improve the overall operational efficiency.
A Worldwide leader in the manufacture of high-quality audio and electronic products chose Wipro for providing end to end management of its IT Infrastructure across Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. This multi million dollar engagement spans 7 years.
Wipro was chosen as the Key strategic partner by a Global Apparel & Footwear manufacturer for a wide spread of their application landscape. Some of them involve holistic support for their critical global systems in the B2B space, Sales order capture, all supporting transactions and its associated reporting needs, which form a part of the customer's strategic visioning and internal development of their robust sales systems.
A Global integrated Steel major has engaged Wipro as the system integration partner for transforming its core manufacturing execution business solution. Wipro will program manage this initiative to implement consolidated and simplified business processes targeted towards inventory reduction. The program will entail redesign of the shop floor process including Planning & Scheduling and Production Execution along with IT application rationalization.
Wipro is designing and deploying a solution to enable supply chain visibility for a large automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). This solution is designed to bring in a unified global process for tracking vehicles once they leave the factory on intercontinental transport till they reach the dealers. These applications are scalable for the future growing needs of the OEM and planned to be deployed across geographies.
In the transportation Industry group, Wipro won a large deal from one of the leading Mail & Express company in Europe. This is a multi-million dollar 5 year deal consisting of SAP Finance and Procurement Support , SAP HR Rollout & Support and SAP FSCM implementation Rollout.
Wipro is also providing Global Support for SAP applications for a Leading Alcoholic Beverages company deploying the Flexible Delivery Model. This has enabled faster ramp up and ramp down as per business demand, wider shift coverage, better service levels, and higher productivity gain for the customer at an optimized cost.
Wipro Arabia won a large multi-million dollar turnkey IT Solutions and Infrastructure Services project from a leading Govt. owned technology institute based in the Middle East. Other key wins in the Indian market for the quarter include a 10 year Total Outsourcing Contract with a large realty company, a comprehensive SAP implementation suite at a large public sector enterprise, an end-to-end Data Warehousing Implementation at a large PSU Bank and Infrastructure Integration & Management contracts from a large Retail chain.
IT Services business accounted for 74% of Revenue and 90% of PBIT for the Quarter ended June 30, 2008.
Applied Innovation
As a part of its effort for continuous Innovation in delivery, Wipro has invested in outcome based models and we are seeing increased customer interest. This result based model has inherent benefits like improvement in service levels and end-user experience. FlexDelivery is one such model for managing enterprise applications and we now have six clients using this model out which three were added in the last quarter.
We launched Cigma (Center for Integrated Global Management of Applications), offering a 360 degree Services capability for managing the application landscape of an enterprise spread across the globe. This service offers the unique capability of providing an outcome based model based on SLA’s (service level agreements) as well as BLA’s (business level agreements) to customers. Cigma is currently made available to clients in the manufacturing space.
Taking the message of Applied Innovation further, Wipro pioneered Innovative Green practices to hold a global carbon neutral event-“Mandala”. Mandala is a global customer forum where Wipro’s customers, thought leaders and senior management meet to debate, exchange ideas and share best practices in key areas that will shape the future of the global industry. Wipro also announced its membership in The Green Grid, a global consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems.
Awards and Recognition:
Wipro won the SAP Pinnacle Award for thought leadership around enterprise SOA. This global award recognizes partners who make exemplary contribution to SAP’s ecosystem.
This quarter, Wipro was also recognized by Emerson Rosemount as top IT partner for Continuous Improvement in the areas of Quality, Speed, Flexibility, Service, Technology, and Cost. Wipro is the only IT Services Company till date that has been recognized by Emerson.
Wipro was awarded the Top Network Integrator award for the fourth consecutive year by Voice and Data, and was also ranked as the best APAC partner by Netapp.
Wipro has won the Partner of the year award from IBM and the Fastest growing Solution Partner award for Asia Pacific from Packeteer.
IT Products
For the quarter ended June 30, 2008, IT Products business recorded Revenues of Rs.7.5 billion, representing a growth of 44% YoY. PBIT grew by 7% YoY to Rs. 249 million. Operating Income to Revenue for the quarter was 3.3%.
IT Products business accounted for 12.5% of the Revenue and 2% of the PBIT for the quarter ended June 30, 2008.
Consumer Care & Lighting
For the quarter ended June 30, 2008, our Consumer Care and Lighting business recorded Revenues of Rs. 5.13 billion, a growth of 119% YoY and PBIT of Rs. 609 million, a growth of 100% YoY. PBIT to Revenue was 11.9% for the quarter.
Consumer Care & Lighting business accounted for 9% of the Revenue and 6% of the PBIT for the quarter ended June 30, 2008.
Wipro Limited
For the quarter ended June 30, 2008, the Return on capital Employed in IT business was 41% and Consumer Care & Lighting business was 14%. At the Company level, the Return on Capital Employed was 25%, lower due to inclusion of cash and cash equivalents of Rs. 56 billion in Capital Employed (33% of Capital Employed).
For Wipro Limited, Profit after Tax computed in accordance with US GAAP for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, was Rs. 8.14 billion. The net difference between Profits computed in accordance with Indian GAAP and US GAAP is primarily due to different Revenue recognition standards, income taxes, amortization of intangible assets, differences in accounting treatment for hedge accounting for foreign currency loan and related currency swaps and India fringe benefit tax.
For Wipro Limited, Non-US GAAP adjusted Profit after Tax for the quarter ended June 30 2008, was Rs. 8.85 billion. The net difference between Profits computed in accordance with Indian GAAP and Non-US GAAP adjusted is primarily due to different Revenue recognition standards, income taxes, and amortization of intangible assets.
IT Services segment’s Revenues were Rs. 43.93 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, under US GAAP.
The difference of Rs. 112 million is primarily attributable to difference in accounting standards under Indian GAAP and US GAAP.
On April 18, 2008, the Company announced changes to the management structure of IT Business and appointed Joint CEO’s to head the IT business. Consequent to this re -organization, the Company identified IT Services and IT Products as the reportable segments relating to the IT businesses. There is no change in the reportable segments for other businesses. Segment information in respect of earlier period has been revised to conform to the presentation as per new reportable segments.
Wipro's Q1 FY09 PAT up 4.2% (QoQ)
Wipro Q1 net profit seen at Rs 873.9 crFrom the Wipro Message Board
Q1 results 09
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