The Hindu Business Line : Satyam Q1 net up 45 pc

Hyderabad, July 18 Satyam Computer Services registered 43.20-per cent growth in software revenues and 44.77-per cent growth in net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2008 in comparison to the same period last fiscal.

Sequentially, the revenue was up 8.48 per cent at Rs 2620.83 crore (Rs 2,416 crore in Q4 fiscal 2008) and net profit was up 17.32 per cent at Rs 547.70 crore (Rs 466.85 crore in Q4 last fiscal).

However, the quarter saw an exchange loss of Rs 36.3 crore.

Briefing reporters today, the Chairman of Satyam, Mr. B. Ramalinga Raju, said that the company managed to maintain guidance in dollar terms sequentially and the earning per share was up significantly by 17.7 per cent.

The quarter performance showed that the margin management was good and there was fair amount of operational efficiency.

During the quarter, the company managed to grow Asia-Pacific revenues faster than other markets and this would help bring down dependence on limited geographies, he said.

While the BFSI (banking and financial services and insurance) sector has expectedly not grown during the quarter due to current business environment, sectors such as TIMES (telecom, infrastructure, media, entertainment and semiconductor), retail, transportation and logistics have done well.

However, the company’s BPO arm witnessed significant clamp down in the animation sector, and the company expects to grow this during the second quarter, Mr Raju said.

Acquisitions help

Referring to acquisition of Bridge Strategy Group and Nitor, Mr Raju said they had brought about significant upside and lot of synergistic opportunities in consultancy services.

The company is expected to cross yet another major milestone of recording revenues of over Rs10,000 crore during the year, Mr. Raju said.

Under the US GAAP, revenue from software services was at $637.3 million, reflecting a growth of 40.9 per cent year on year and 3.9 per cent sequentially.

Net income was up $126 million, a growth of 36 per cent over same period last year and 12.7 per cent sequentially.

Upbeat on guidance

Mr Raju said that the company remained positive and confident about its ability to deliver on the guidance notwithstanding the operational environment.

“The company is encouraged by the continued demand in enterprise applications market where we enjoy a dominant position,” Mr Raju said.