Wipro to buy back shares worth 15k cr

Bengaluru: Amid lacklustre performance, Wipro approved its sixth-and largest-share buyback to date, worth Rs 15,000 crore at Rs 250 per share. Founder Azim Premji and the promoter group are set to participate in the buyback.

As part of its capital allocation strategy, the board proposed buying back up to 60 crore equity shares of face value Rs 2 each, representing about 5.7% of the total paid-up equity capital, through a proportionate tender offer route.

In comparison, in April 2023, the company approved a Rs 12,000 crore buyback at Rs 445 per share, targeting nearly 27 crore shares, or about 4.9% of outstanding equity. Premji and the promoter group then tendered around 19.4 crore shares, amounting to Rs 8,612 crore, in the buyback.

Wipro's weak March quarter and FY26 performance, coupled with subdued guidance driven by soft demand and concerns around two client accounts, weighed on sentiment, sending its shares down nearly 5% in early Thursday trading on the NYSE. Its IT services revenue for the March quarter rose 0.2% sequentially in constant currency and declined 0.2% year-on-year. In reported terms, revenue increased 0.6% sequentially to $2.6 billion and grew 2.1% year-on-year.

For FY26, IT services revenue declined 0.3% in dollar terms to $10.4 billion and fell 1.6% in constant currency.

Wipro CEO Srini Pallia said geopolitical and policy disruptions have become the new normal. "Changing trade rules, tighter immigration policies, and prolonged conflicts continue to create uncertainties for industries and economies. Despite these headwinds, IT spending has shown resilience. Client priorities are shifting, with spending decisions increasingly tied to outcomes," he said. The company expects IT services revenue in the range of $2.6 billion to $2.65 billion for the June quarter, implying sequential growth of -2% to 0% in constant currency terms.

Addressing the subdued outlook, Pallia said, "There is a client account-specific issue impacting us in quarter four and quarter one. Another account where we won a deal, but we have not been able to ramp up yet because of delays from the client. So, these are the two reasons why that hadn't come. That is baked into the guidance that we have given."

On the HR front, Wipro added 8,810 employees during the fiscal year. In the March quarter, headcount increased by just 135, taking the total workforce to about 2.4 lakh employees. Wipro's HR head Saurabh Govil said the company added 7,500 freshers in FY26, including over 3,000 in March quarter.
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