UPDATE 3-India's Wipro Q3 up 9 pct, muted outlook hits shares

* December-quarter profit rises 8.7 pct

* Clients clamour for price cuts, margins pressured

* Satyam fraud won't hurt business, not chasing its clients

(Adds details, share price close)

By Sumeet Chatterjee

BANGALORE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - India's No.3 software services exporter Wipro Ltd (WIPR.BO) on Wednesday met forecasts with a 8.7 percent rise in quarterly profit, but gave a downbeat outlook, sending its shares down.

Growth in India's once-booming software services exporting sector has slowed sharply in the last year as a recession in the United States, which accounts for more than one-half of the $52 billion industry supplying IT and back-office services, and global financial sector turmoil crimps demand.

Wipro, which counts Citigroup (C.N), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Cisco (CSCO.O) among its clients, said net profit rose to 8.98 billion rupees ($183 million) in the three months to December under U.S. accounting rules, up from 8.26 billion rupees a year ago.

Analysts in a Reuters poll forecast a net profit of 8.99 billion rupees for Wipro, which provides IT solutions and services such as system integration, software application development and maintenance and research services.

Revelations of overstated profits and fictitious assets at No.4 Satyam Computer Services Ltd (SATY.BO) have also cast a shadow over the sector, which is one of the country's main export earners. [ID:nSP395710]

Wipro forecast that its fourth-quarter IT services revenue, including the acquisition of Citi Technology Services, would be $1.05 billion, down 7 percent from the previous quarter. It would be its first sequential decline in at least five years.

"We are living in tough times; the macro-economic challenges are significant and impacting businesses across segment," Chairman Azim Premji said in a statement.

"The guidance is seemingly indicating to a weak demand scenario," said Tarun Sisodia, head of research at Anand Rathi Securities. "We are overall not very positive on this result."

Chief Financial Officer Suresh Senapaty told reporters that some of its clients were demanding that the company cut its prices due to the global economic downturn and that this could affect margins.

"The pressure was there in the third quarter and some of that will continue to be there in the fourth quarter," Senapaty said.

Total revenue rose 25 percent to 65.4 billion rupees, as its IT services business added 31 clients during the December quarter, including Australian group Origin Energy (ORG.AX).