Wipro - Asia's Best Tech Companies

[VelMurugan]

Wipro



Market Value: $15.2 bn

Sales: $5.0 bn

Here's another Indian entry in the list, Wipro. After its closest rival Infosys made a sizable UK acquisition, technology-outsourcing giant Wipro Ltd recently acknowledged that it is also on the hunt for deals. According to co-Chief Executive Suresh Vaswani, acquisition targets include companies with strengths in particular industry sectors, or those that would give Wipro a foothold in geographic regions where it does not have a strong presence such as Latin America or China.

The company is also looking at ramping up its visibility and brand building campaigns overseas. Wipro also recently entered into a partnership with the US-based Harman International Industries for co-development of embedded audio and infotainment products for automotive, consumer and professional markets.

Wipro makes about half its sales in the United States, where the financial services industry -- traditionally a big outsourcer of IT services -- has been hard hit by the credit crunch.

The third-largest software exporter missed analyst's forecasts with a 15 per cent rise in quarterly profit in the first quarter. The company reported a net profit rise to Rs 8.14 billion ($190 million) in the fiscal first quarter ended June, up from 7.10 billion a year ago under US accounting rules. Its sales climbed 43 per cent.

The company had 95,675 employees as of June 30, 2008, which includes 74,838 employees in IT business and 20,837 employees in BPO business. With high salaries eating into the company's margins, it is planning to increase its intake of BSc graduates by pulling up the number from current 1,200 to 3,500 during the fiscal year.

Source : Indiatimes