rediff.com: Wipro to finalise ADR plan in a month

India's diversified information technology firm Wipro Limited expects to firmly set in about a month a schedule for a US public share issue, its vice-chairman said.

"A lot of it depends on external factors. We would still like to see the market settle down a little bit. We want everybody (in the US) to come back from summer vacations," Vivek Paul said in an interview on Wednesday.

Paul also said Wipro was likely to list on the New York Stock Exchange rather than the tech-laden NASDAQ exchange.

Wipro, one of India's leading software exporters, had in March announced plans to issue American depository receipts or global depository receipts up to $500 million.

Media reports and analysts have said the company has filed documents with the Securities & Exchange Commission leading to an ADR but the company had said it had not firmed up any action plan regarding the issue.

Wipro also has computer hardware division and consumer goods divisions that make electric bulbs, soaps, childcare products and vegetable oils.

The firm is one of about 25 Indian companies which plan to raise funds through ADRs or GDRs in 2000-01 (April-March).

Currently, Indian software services blue-chip Infosys Technologies Limited, Internet firms Satyam Infoway Limited and Rediff Communications Limited are listed on the US NASDAQ exchange.

Indian financial services firm ICICI Limited, its banking unit ICICI Bank and software services firm Silverline Technologies Limited are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Wipro is scheduled to announce on Thursday its financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2000. At the Bombay Stock Exchange, Wipro shares were trading at Rs 2,525 in early trade on Wednesday, down 4 per cent or Rs 100.95 at 11.40 a.m.

Paul, who works out of California, said Wipro was not worried about the fall in valuations of tech companies, particularly in the United States, as Wipro was an information technology services firm with strong revenue growth.

"We're not a dot-com (purely Internet-based) company. We are in fact a company that is happily enjoying the dot-com revolution without the uncertainty that comes with it," Paul said.

He said the software services business of Wipro was riding on the global demand of traditional companies to set up online arms and do business on the Internet.

"The markets there (in the US) are saying that here's a company with consistent earnings growth in an environment that is moving very fast," Paul said.

During the year ended March 31, 2000, Wipro posted a 77 per cent year-on-year growth in net profit to Rs 3 billion on total revenues of Rs 23.13 billion.

Revenues from its software services business alone grew 65 per cent year-on-year to Rs 10.42 billion.

Analysts expect the firm to post a 70-80 per cent growth in profit during the first quarter ended June 30, 2000, compared to the year-ago quarter.

"Valuations clearly keep going up and down and nobody can comment what is a fair stock price but the reality is that we have a nice story to tell in terms of consistent earnings growth," Paul said.

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