Satyam net grows 35% in 2004-05

Satyam Computer Services posted a 34.98 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 750.26 crore in financial year 2004-05.

The software solutions provider ended the year with a revenue of Rs 3,546.78 crore, up 35 per cent from Rs 2,623.28 crore in 2003-04. The revenue of the company from IT services alone was Rs 3,464.22 crore, up 36.3 per cent from Rs 2,541.54 crore in 2003-04.

The profit before interest, depreciation and tax (PBIDT), too, increased to Rs 971.70 crore compared with Rs 774.31 crore in the previous financial year.

The company's basic earnings per share (EPS) for 2004-05 was Rs 23.61, up from Rs 17.64 in 2003-04. The latter included Rs 0.44 per share because of profit on sale of 1 million shares of Sify Limited through its sponsored American Depository Shares programme.

A final dividend of 150 per cent, Rs 3 per share at par value of Rs 2 per share, has been recommended by the board of directors, subject to approval.

The total dividend recommended for the year, therefore, is Rs 5 per share at par value of Rs 2 per share inclusive of interim dividend of Rs 2 per share.

The company has also announced a sponsored ADS offering with a size not exceeding 30 million shares representing 15 million ADS. Satyam has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, US.

The total consolidated revenues of Satyam for FY05 stood at Rs 3,607.68 crore, representing a 36 per cent growth over Rs 2,635.56 crore in FY04.

These numbers include revenues of business entities like Nipuna Services Limited, Satyam Technologies Inc, Sify Limited and Satyam Asia Pte Limited besides other subsidiaries in Shanghai and Europe.

Satyam has touched revenues of Rs 953.37 crore and an EPS of Rs 6.68 in Q4, representing a sequential growth of seven per cent and 21.7 per cent respectively.

B Ramalinga Raju, founder-chairman of Satyam, said, "This has been a landmark quarter for us as our consolidated income has crossed the Rs 1,000-crore mark for the first time."

The company is targeting to cross $ one billion in revenues in 2005-06, a year-on-year growth of 26-28 per cent, besides EPS of between Rs 26.84 and Rs 27.3 during the same period.

Apart from this, it is also expecting that its BPO subsidiary, Nipuna, that earned revenues of $10 million in 2004-05, will cross $18 million revenues in 2005-06.

"We are working towards derisking our business by expanding our revenue base from new verticals and new customers," Raju added.