Wipro on Tuesday met Street estimates when it posted a 3.4 per cent drop in net profits at Rs 2,465.7 crore for the September quarter of 2020 against Rs 2,552.7 crore a year ago. Analysts were expecting the company to report profits between Rs 2400-2500 crore.

Technology firms are largely expected to report strong numbers buoyed by increased spends on technological transformation because of the challenges thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wipro said it expects the revenue of its IT services business for the December quarter of 2020 to be in the range of $2,022-2,062 million. This translates into a sequential growth of 1.5-3.5 per cent.

During the second quarter, US dollar revenues stood at $1.99 billion, which marked a sequential growth of 3.7 per cent. The October-December period is usually a seasonally weak period for IT services companies.

“We had an excellent quarter with growth in revenues, expansion of margins and robust cash generation. I am very excited about the opportunities that are ahead of us and encouraged by the acceleration in business momentum we have seen this quarter,’’ said Thierry Delaporte, CEO and managing director.

Buyback approved

Wipro has announced a Rs 9,500-crore share buyback programme that may lead to promoters’ stake inching up further.

At a board meeting on Tuesday, the directors approved a proposal to repurchase up to 23.75 crore shares representing 4.16 per cent of total paid-up equity capital from the shareholders through the tender route at a price of Rs 400 per share.

This is a premium of 6.45 per cent over the closing price of the Wipro share on Tuesday.

Wipro is the second technology firm after Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to announce a share buyback. In a regulatory filing to the bourses, the company said that its promoters will also participate in the programme.