M-Satyam Q3 profit surges on forex gains

Mahindra Satyam posted a net profit of Rs 308 crore onrevenues of Rs 1,718 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011. It hasregistered a 29 per cent increase in its net profit and a 9 per cent rise inrevenues (both on a quarter-on-quarter basis). That is an over four-fold (424per cent to be precise) increase in net profit and 34 per cent rise in revenueson a year-on-year basis.

What is worth noting in the Q3 results, released by the company on February 1, 2012, is the contribution from forex gains. For thequarter ended December 31, 2011 it is Rs 66.39 crore as against Rs 33.72  crore in the previous quarter and just aboutRs 13.42 crore at the end of Q3 of the previous year. The total headcount ofthe company stood at 32,280 as of December 31, 2011, a net addition of 188employees quarter-on-quarter. The attrition rate was reported to be "stable'' at 16 per cent in Q3, down from 25 per centin the corresponding period of the previous year.

"We continue on our path of building the organisation andimproving our operating metrics, in the face of some headwinds on the economicfront,'' says Vineet Nayyar, chairman, Mahindra Satyam.

On the crucial issue of timeline for merger with TechMahindra, he says, it could happen by October this year. According to him, thecompany is now moving into its next phase - that is from a reconstruction phaseto a trajectory of growth and that the company was reaching normalcy and was atpar, or getting close to being at par, to the industry standards in terms ofprofitability.

Giving details of the results, CP Gurnani, CEO, MahindraSatyam, says: "Our three-pronged approach to the market through vertical,regional and service-line penetration coupled with effective portfoliomanagement focus is showing consistent results in this changing environment.Investments into emerging areas such as mobility, cloud and security solutionsshould help us accelerate, as we complete the initial three year transformationjourney."

It has two more quarter for this considering that it says itbegan a three-year transformation journey in June 2009 after taking over SatyamComputer.