The Hindu Business Line : Satyam Q4 net rises 38%

The company has recorded a total income of Rs 1,849.55 crore and a net profit of Rs 393 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2007 as against total income of Rs 1,342.51 crore and a net profit of Rs 284.83 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

This reflects a growth of 37.7 per cent in revenues and 38.2 per cent in net profit over the same quarter last year.

For the full year, the revenues were at Rs 6,668.86 crore (Rs 5,125.84 crore), a growth of about 30.09 per cent. The net profit was Rs 1,404.62 crore (Rs 1,149.06 crore), a growth of 22.24 per cent.

The company's management provided a revenue guidance of $1.87 billion to $1.9 billion. The company hinted at revenues touching the $2-billion mark in third and fourth quarters.

The Chairman of Satyam Computer, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, said that this growth might translate into 28-30 per cent in 2008 over fiscal 2007 in dollar terms and 20 to 22 per cent in rupee terms.

Earnings per share for the full year is expected to be between Rs 25.32 and Rs 25.73, a growth of 18-20 per cent.

The company's board has proposed a final dividend of 125 per cent, thereby taking the total dividend to 175 per cent.

Addressing a press conference to announce the company performance, Mr Ramalinga Raju said Satyam would complete its 20th year on June 24 necessitating a new growth path and strategising for future.

The company said that the performance far outpaced projections despite the fact that the rupee appreciated by 6 per cent.

The business portfolio has undergone a change and dependence on the US market has come down.

The US business has come below 60 per cent and Europe contributes about 20 per cent and Australia seven per cent. This distributed business, coupled with over 50 per cent revenue from offshore, has helped create more value to customers and margins to the company, he explained.

The company's performance was despite pressure on margins due to wage hikes that meant about 5 per cent increase in overseas salaries and 16 per cent for associates in India.

The company managed to absorb the cost increase, particularly securing against the tide of weakening rupee.

Mr Raju said that the company continued to win the confidence of large customers and the $200 million deal from Applied Materials in the fourth quarter on managed services was illustrative of this trend.

Satyam added 138 customers in fiscal 2007, including seven Fortune 500 companies.

The number of customers billing more than $10 million increased to 35 from 27 during the year. The company now has over 180 customers with $1 million plus business.

And, significantly, the revenue from consulting and enterprise solutions grew by 43 per cent.