Satyam net dips 21%

BS 200 SCORECARD

Satyam Computer Services net profit declined 21.49 per cent for the quarter ended December 2006 (Q3) compared with the corresponding quarter a year earlier.

However, its net rose 5.45 per cent to Rs 337.23 crore for the quarter ended December 2006 over the previous quarter's figure.

The company's income from services in the quarter under review grew 31.28 per cent (in rupees) compared with the corresponding previous quarter and just 3.7 per cent in sequential terms, indicating an improvement in margins.

Satyam said there was an improvement in terms of pricing coming from new contracts with 5-6 per cent rise over the current prices.

Commenting on the lower growth in volumes in the third quarter, compared with the previous quarter, B Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman, said though Q2 had a better growth of about 10 per cent, the 7.73 per cent growth (in dollar terms), in the third quarter was not bad either income from services for Q3 stood at Rs 1,661.12 crore compared with Rs 1,217.84 crore in the previous corresponding quarter.

That the growth in volumes in this quarter fell short of market expectations is clear from the knee-jerk reaction by bourses to the Satyam scrip in the morning considering the lower upward movement compared with the revenues of Rs 1,606.1 crore reported in the second quarter ended September 2006, and the growth in revenues posted by other domestic majors.