Shares of Indias Wipro slid almost 3% on Friday, a day after long-serving CFO Dalal resigned in a surprise move, the latest senior-level exit at the fourth-largest Indian IT services provider. Dalal, who has been with the company for two decades, was responsible for corporate finance and planning, treasury, taxation, secretarial, controllership, assurance, and procurement functions at Wipro. She was also a Wipro Ventures board of directors member, the company’s $300 million strategic investment arm.
In a stock exchange filing, Wipro said that Dalal was leaving to pursue professional pursuits outside the company after more than two decades with the firm. She will be replaced by Aparna Iyer, a 20-year veteran of the company who was most recently senior vice president and CFO of Wipros FullStride cloud unit. Wipro said she will report directly to CEO Thierry Delaporte and be an executive board member.
The announcement of Dalal’s departure came just a day after the IT services provider missed revenue estimates for the second quarter. Wipro warned of a 1% and 3% revenue drop for the April-June period due to a weakened demand outlook. The forecast was below expectations by brokerage firms, including Kotak Securities.
What the future holds for Wipro needs to be clarified. It has struggled to keep pace with its peers as customers defer IT spending amid lingering concerns about a high-interest rate environment in the U.S., a key market for Wipro and its peers. The company has seen a wave of top-level exits as it tries to reshape its business and improve profitability.
In the last 12 months, several senior executives have left Wipro, including chief operating officer Sanjeev Singh; country head Satya Easwaran; iDEAS business head Rajan Kohli; and SVP and head of healthcare and medical devices for the Americas Mohd Haque. Wipro also saw the senior vice president and head of the manufacturing and hi-tech business unit, Ashish Saxena, leave for Persistent Systems.
Abidali Neemuchwala, Wipros group chairman, also resigned earlier this year, citing family commitments. The company is looking for a new chairperson and CEO, but it will take much work.
According to analysts, Dalal’s exit is a blow to the company as it seeks to reposition itself in a shifting IT landscape. They say the company faces stiff competition from its competitors, and it needs to catch up to some of its peers regarding execution capabilities. They also point to a weak mega deal pipeline and a challenging global economic environment as posing downside risks for Wipro in the short term. However, analysts say the company still has a solid platform to capitalize on opportunities in the long run. They maintain a “HOLD” rating on the stock.
