India's Wipro fourth-quarter profit rises 29 percent, beats estimates

(Reuters) - India's Wipro Ltd posted a 29 percent rise in its fourth-quarter net profit, beating expectations, helped by increased IT spending by its customers. Like its rivals Infosys Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Wipro is banking on a revival in demand for IT services in the industry's biggest markets as the economies of the United States and Europe improve. For the quarter ended March 31, the company said it earned 22.27 billion rupees (219.51 million pounds) compared with 17.29 billion rupees a year earlier. That compares with average analyst estimates of 21.06 billion rupees in net profit, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. India's outsourcing sector generates more than 90 percent of its sales from providing services, including setting up IT networks and developing software applications for overseas clients. Shares of Bangalore-based Wipro closed at 585.85 rupees on Thursday. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Mumbai; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)