Satyam profit falls 10.7% in Q1

Satyam serves more than sixty Fortune 500 clients with General Electric and Sony Corp. It employs over 8,500 staff. The company forecast on Thursday its July-September earnings per share at Rs 3.5-3.65 and software income at Rs 475-490 crore. The company, which is fighting intense pricing pressure and relies on volume-led growth in its main US market, reported diluted earnings per share of Rs 3.43 for the first quarter ended June 30, lower than the Rs 3.89 per share a year earlier.

It said the outlook for the whole year remained unchanged. Satyam had forecast in April it expects earnings of Rs 17.1-17.5 in the current year with net operating margin of about 32 per cent. It forecast software services sales of Rs 2090 crore-2130 crore for the year. The company said it is still actively looking to sell all or part of its 52.5 percent in its loss-making internet service provider, but did not provide further details. Last October it had announced plans to divest its stake in the Nasdaq-listed Satyam Infoway as it focuses on its software business.

It has since not announced any new developments regarding the stake sale, which analysts expect to be a big trigger for Satyam Computer’s shares. “Satyam continues to actively pursue its objective of divesting its stake in Satyam Infoway, in whole or in part,” chairman B. Ramalinga Raju told an analysts conference call after the company announced results.