** Wipro Ltd rises as much as 5.9 pct to 284.90, its highest since July 2016

** IT services provider's Q1 consol profit rose 1.2 pct to 20.83 billion rupees ($323.72 million), beating analyst expectations

** Co expects Sept-qtr revenue from core IT services business in the range of $1.96 bln-$2 bln

** Wipro will buy back 343.75 mln shares worth up to 110 bln rupees, co said on Thursday

** Angel Broking analyst said quarter was better than expected on all fronts, mainly driven by better-than-expected volume growth during the quarter, retaining "Neutral" rating

** Brokerage added that unless the co's client addition becomes strong it is unlikely to witness sustained growth which most of the large-cap IT companies deliver

($1 = 64.3450 Indian rupees)