JOIN USReeling under the about Rs 10,000 crore financial scam that necessitated restatement of accounts, Satyam was at its nadir in January with a measly profit of Rs 4 crore before showing signs of revival by recording a Rs 52 crore profit in February. This was despite losing about two dozen clients.
The numbers for three-month period ended December 2008 were just about a third of the year-ago results, when the company had posted a net profit of Rs 433.63 crore and a total income of Rs 2,266 crore.
In October-December 2008 — a period that saw the beginning of Satyam’s fall from grace — the IT firm posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 160.50 crore and total income of Rs 2,327.21 crore. The announcement came within a month of Tech Mahindra, an IT arm of Mahindra & Mahindra, acquired controlling stake that valued Satyam at Rs 5,800 crore. In the quarter ended December 2007, the company had a net profit of Rs 433.63 crore and a total income of Rs 2,266 crore. At the end of March, the firm’s bank balance stood at Rs 373 crore, while the loan outstanding stood at Rs 469 crore at the end of March 31, 2009.
“The company had received new business orders from 215 mostly existing customers with contract values totalling US$380 million,” it added.
Salary expenditure
Scam-hit Satyam Computer said it has spent over Rs 1,000 crore on paying salaries to its employees in the first three months of this year.
Satyam spent a total of Rs 1,026 crore on paying salaries and another Rs 342.72 crore in other employee-related segments. The company made a cash outlay of Rs 91.17 crore on medical insurance for employees and Rs 251.55 crore on statutory compliance, the company said in the filing to stock exchanges.
Overall, the company’s total operating cash outlays stood at Rs 1,836 crore at the end of March this year.
Government support
Meanwhile, the Centre, said it will support Tech Mahindra to make the scam-hit company viable.
“... Tech Mahindra want to make company viable and for that purpose, whatever steps they take we will support them (Tech Mahindra),” Minister for Corporate Affairs Salman Khursheed told reporters.
Over 2,000 quit the firm in Jan-Feb
More than 2,000 employees of Satyam Computer have quit the once iconic IT company in the first two months of this calendar year, bringing the total head count down to 41,622 as of March. Between January 2008 and February 2009, the company saw total of 9,400 staff leave, with highest monthly attrition of 1,602 seen in February this year.
“As of March 28, 2009, the company on a standalone basis had 41,622 associates.”
Loses 23 clients
The firm said it lost 23 customers in about three months after the disclosure of a massive fraud by its founder Ramalinga Raju, but won new business orders from as many as 215 clients.
The 23 clients lost by Satyam had accounted for US$70 million of billings for Satyam.