Wipro Q4 net profit rises 4 pct, beats forecast

Wipro, which offers IT solutions such as system integration, software application development and back-office services, said on Wednesday net profit in its fiscal fourth quarter to March rose to 9.1 billion rupees ($180 million), under U.S. accounting rules, from 8.75 billion rupees reported a year ago.

A Reuters poll had forecast a net profit of 8.73 billion rupees for New York-listed Wipro, which counts Citigroup, telecoms gear makers Cisco, Nokia Siemens Networks and Credit Suisse among its clients.

The company said it expected June quarter IT services revenues of about $1 billion to $1.03 billion.Wipro reported its earnings after India's biggest IT services exporter Tata Consultancy Services posted below-forecast quarterly profit growth, while second-ranked Infosys Technologies managed to beat street estimates.

Tata Consultancy and Infosys both gave a downbeat forecast for the financial year that began on April 1 due to the global downturn hitting technology spending and put pressure on prices for India's export-driven outsourcers.