Wipro nears 52-week high ahead of board meet for bonus issue, Q3 results

Shares of Wipro were trading firm at Rs 341 apiece, up 1.5 per cent on the BSE, in an otherwise subdued market, ahead of the board meeting today to consider bonus issue and December quarter results.

in comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.15 per cent at 36,320 points at 11:06 am. Wipro was trading close to its 52-week high of Rs 344 hit on December 13, 2018, on the BSE in intra-day trade.

The information technology (IT) company on Monday, January 14, 2019, announced that its board will consider bonus issue of shares in its meeting on January 17-18, 2019. The decision of the board will be informed to the stock exchanges on the evening of January 18, 2019.

In the past four trading days, the stock rallied 9 per cent against 1.5 per cent rise in the benchmark index.

Earlier, in January 2017, Wipro had rewarded investors by issuing bonus shares in the proportion of 1:1 i.e. one bonus equity share of Rs 2 each for every one share held as on the record date.

The board will also consider the audited standalone and consolidated financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2018, and declaration of interim dividend, if any, for the financial year 2018-19.

“We expect Wipro constant currency (CC) revenue to grow 1.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). Reported USD revenues would grow by 0.6 per cent QoQ owing to cross-currency headwind. This translates to a sequential growth outlook of 1-3 per cent. Commentary on BFSI vertical, growth in the European market, large deal wins and digital business would be keenly watched,” the brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher said in a quarterly preview.

The company has the potential for a turnaround in growth as well as scope for buyback announcement in this quarter (net cash on balance sheet at Rs 21,400 crore as on Q2FY19) are triggers, it added.

The brokerage firm Elara Capital expects Wipro to guide to 1-3 per cent revenue growth for Q4FY19E and report EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin of 17.7 per cent, a slight decline of 40bp adjusted for the settlement with National Grid in Q2FY19.

“We believe that Wipro is struggling to achieve any degree of consistency. The timing of the recovery remains the key. The company continues to struggle with Jun and Sep quarter blues, while revenue growth is not broad-based. Some vertical/services/geographies drive growth, while others cause a drag on growth. Although the company has improved its hunting engine, mining remains sub-par. The company's revenue growth has been below 1 per cent (Q/Q CC) in four of the past five quarters, suggesting that growth shackles are difficult to shake off,” analysts at JP Morgan said in October report post Q2FY19 results. The stock was trading at brokerage firm 12-month target price of Rs 340 per share.