Monday, February 9, 2009

Wipro eyeing European buyouts

PARIS: India's No. 3 software services exporter, Wipro Ltd, which has a cash chest of $500 million, is looking for acquisition opportunities, notably in Europe, its chairman and founder told French daily Les Echos.

Azim Premji said in the interview that he was eyeing "a few acquisition opportunities, notably in Europe in software or services companies with a revenue of at least $100 million.”

Wipro, which wanted to generate 40 per cent of its revenue in Europe within three years, planned to beef up its positions in France and Germany, he said.

The company recently reported its third quarter results with a 8.7 per cent rise, but gave a muted forecast due to the global economic downturn and growing pressure from Western clients to cut its fees.

The company forecast its information technology services revenue, including revenue from its acquisition of Citi Technology Services, at $1.05 billion in the March quarter, down 7 per cent from $1.13 billion in October-December.

Wipro, which counts Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Cisco among its clients, said net profit rose to Rs 8.98 billion ($183 million) in October-December under US accounting rules, up from Rs 8.26 billion a year ago.

“Our price realisation improved sequentially in constant currency through higher productivity, while absorbing impact of lower working days during the quarter," executive director and chief financial officer Suresh Senapaty said in a statement.

Total revenue rose 25 per cent to Rs 65.4 billion, as its IT services business added 31 clients during the December quarter. Its margins during the quarter were impacted by 60 basis points due to one-time provision of receivables from a large customer, he said.

Source: http://infotech.indiatimes.com/News/Internet/articlelist/2689148.cms

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