Reuters

Bangalore, Jul 18: Wipro Ltd, India's third largest information technology outsourcer, missed forecasts with a 15 per cent rise in quarterly profit, as the global economic downturn hurt demand from its major Western clients.

Wipro, which offers IT solutions such as system integration, software application development and back-office services, said on Friday net profit rose to Rs 8.14 billion ($190 million) in its fiscal first quarter ended June, from 7.10 billion reported a year ago under US accounting rules.

A Reuters poll had forecast a net profit of 9.02 billion rupees for Bangalore-based Wipro, which counts telecoms gear makers Cisco, Credit Suisse, Nortel and Nokia Siemens Networks among its clients.

Shares in Wipro, which also has minor interests in computer hardware, consumer products and lighting, rose 3 per cent in the June quarter, trailing a 13 per cent rise in the sector index but outperforming a 14 per cent drop in the Mumbai index.