Abidali Z. Neemuchwala is stepping down as the chief executive officer managing director of Wipro after being at the helm of India’s third largest IT services player for a period of four years.

In a communication to the stock exchanges, the Bangalore-based company said Neemuchwala decided to resign because of family commitments.

Wipro said Neemuchwala, 52, will continue at his job until a successor is appointed by the company.

Neemuchwala had joined Wipro as its president and chief operating officer from TCS in 2015. In the following year, he was elevated as the CEO and later in 2019, he got the additional role of managing director. Neemuchwala has over 25 years of experience in IT services.

Wipro said the board of directors have also initiated a search to identify the next CEO.

“We thank Neemuchwala for his leadership and his contributions to Wipro. Over the last four years, he helped build a strong execution mindset, drove key acquisitions and scaled our digital business globally,” Wipro chairman Rishad Premji said.

Neemuchwala said the company has made considerable progress in its transformation journey, improved its delivery engine and institutionalised deeper client centricity.

“It has been my honour and privilege to serve Wipro, a company with a rich legacy of almost 75 years. I thank Azim Premji, Rishad, our board of directors, my Wipro colleagues and customers for their support over the years,' he said.

Shares fall

Shares of Wipro on Friday fell nearly 2 per cent after the company announced that Neemuchwala had decided to step down. The announcement led to the shares of Wipro declining 1.66 per cent, or Rs 4, to close at Rs 236.80 on the BSE. During the day, it dropped 2.38 per cent to an intra-day low of Rs 235.05. On the NSE, it dipped 1.74 per cent to close at Rs 236.50.

During the third quarter of the year ended December 31, 2019, Wipro posted a net profit of Rs 2,460 crore, a fall of 2.2 per cent over the same period last year.

Gross revenue stood at Rs 15,470 crore a rise of 2.7 per cent over the year ago period. Wipro has forecast revenue from its IT services business to be in the range of $ 2,095-2,137 million, which translates to a sequential growth of 0-2 per cent.