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Mahindra Satyam Q1 profit up 56 percent on key orders

Indian IT services company beats expectations with first-quarter profit of US$61 million on back of several multi-million dollar contracts, capping three-year transformation since corporate fraud scandal.
Written by Ryan Huang, Contributor

Indian IT services provider Mahindra Satyam has posted a 56.4 percent jump in its first quarter net profit of 3.52 billion rupees (US$61 million) from a year ago, beating analyst forecasts of 2.5 billion rupees (US$44.6 million) according to a Reuters poll.
The results announced Thursday were on the back of key contracts won during the three months ended June, including those from an airline and real estate developer. Revenue for the quarter was up 31.1 percent at 18.8 billion rupees (US$335.7 million) over the same period.
Vineet Nayyar, chairman of Mahindra Satyam, said in the statement: “With this quarter, we have successfully ended our 3-year transformational journey, recording progress on the back of strong fundamentals, focus and investments. Global business realities continue to be unpredictable. However we are confident of taking forward our momentum."
The results caps the "3-year turnaround" for the company promised by Nayyar during the announcement of a loss of 2.3 billion rupees (US$41 million) for the quarter of July to September in 2010.

It also marks the rebound of the company--then called Satyam Computer Services--hit by a corporate accounting scandal in 2009, when its then-CEO admitted to over-stating its profits. Satyam was renamed Mahindra Satyam, after the new owner reorganized the company and governance practices, and embarked on a campaign to reassure customers and employees worldwide that it was business-as-usual.

Fast forward to 2012, plans are underway for a merger with software giant Tech Mahindra, to create a consolidated IT services powerhouse.
Tech Mahindra, which owns close to 43 percent of Satyam, is offering one share in itself for every 8.5 shares of Satyam to absorb the company, they said in March, according to Reuters.

On the stock market, the first quarter earnings lifted Mahindra Satyam's shares to a 52-week high of as much as 88.35 rupees (US$1.57) per share.

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