Wipro Plunges 8% as Nifty Falls; Reliance, ICICI Bank Drag Index Lower
Shares of Wipro, Reliance Industries, and ICICI Bank ended sharply lower on Monday, dragging the Nifty50 index down by 0.5% to 25,557.30 points. All three companies reported year-on-year revenue growth for the December quarter, but their earnings failed to impress investors.
Wipro's Net Profit Dips Despite Revenue Growth
Wipro's consolidated revenue grew 6% year-on-year to Rs 23,555.80 crore in the December quarter. However, the IT services company saw its net profit fall 7% to Rs 3,119 crore. Employee expenses rose nearly 7%, likely due to the impact of new Labour Codes implemented in December.
The company's outlook for the March quarter disappointed many investors. Wipro expects IT services revenue of $2.69 billion, representing just 0-2% growth from the third quarter in constant currency terms. Deal wins during the quarter fell to a six-quarter low of $3.34 billion, down nearly 6% year-on-year in constant currency terms.
These factors, combined with better numbers reported by rivals TCS and Infosys, led to Wipro's stock falling 9% at its intraday low. The stock ended the day 8.2% lower at Rs 245.50.
Broking firm JM Financial noted that the quarter was lacklustre and highlighted persistent growth challenges. "Q4 will see impact from delayed ramp-ups and fewer working days. Overall, the quarter was lacklustre and highlighted persistent growth challenges, strong LTM deal bookings are yet to translate into revenue," the firm said.
Reliance Industries Reports Near-Flat Profit Growth
Reliance Industries saw its consolidated net profit grow just around 1% to Rs 18,645 crore, while revenue increased 11% to Rs 2,93,829 crore. Despite steady performance in its oil-to-chemicals vertical and strong growth in telecom operations, concerns emerged about lagging growth in the retail segment.
Nomura pointed out in a report that RIL's Q3FY26 consolidated EBITDA of Rs 46,000 crore was flat quarter-on-quarter and 3% below estimates. "The miss can be mainly attributed to softer-than-anticipated results for retail, while the performance of other business segments was largely in line," the report stated.
Due to these concerns, Reliance Industries stock ended 3.1% lower at Rs 1,413.20 on Monday.
ICICI Bank Takes Provisioning Hit
ICICI Bank recorded 2% growth in total income to Rs 49,334 crore during the quarter. However, its net profit fell 4% to Rs 11,317.86 crore due to a one-off provision of Rs 1,283 crore as per RBI direction.
This provision related to non-compliance with RBI requirements found in the bank's portfolio of agricultural priority sector credit facilities. Excluding this provision, most experts were positive about the bank's Q3 performance, especially after it extended the tenure of MD and CEO Sandeep Bakhshi.
The stock ended 2.4% lower at Rs 1,377.70 on Monday.
ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries together have a combined weightage of 17% in the Nifty50 index, making their declines particularly impactful on the broader market performance.
