Satyam Q3 net up 29%, ups Q4 guidance

* Revenue Rs 2,195.56 crore; YoY up 32.2%; QoQ up 8.1%

* PAT Rs 433.63 crore; YoY up 28.6%; QoQ up 6%

* EPS Rs 6.48; QoQ up 5.9%

* EBITDA margin for the quarter: 21.46%

* Added 3,424 employees; total: 49,199

* Attrition fell to 13.1% from 13.9 % QoQ

* 32 customers added

* Outlook positive: Increases fiscal year 2008 revenue guidance to $2.1 billion from $2.08 billion

Riding on the back of large outsourcing deals and high-level offshore utilisation, Hyderabad-based IT services provider Satyam Computer Services posted a net profit of Rs 433.63 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 337.23 crore during the corresponding quarter - a growth of 28.58%.

Revenues stood at Rs 2,195.56 crore, an increase of 32.17%, from Rs 1,661.12 crore during the same period last year. Its earnings per share (EPS) was Rs 6.48 -- a YoY increase of 26.1% and a sequential increase of 5.9%. The EBITDA (operating profit) margin for the quarter under review stood at 21.46%. Satyam recorded a sequential revenue growth of 10.5% and 50% on a year-on-year basis in dollar terms (US GAAP) during Q3.

"The highlight of the quarter was the continued improvement in all operating parameters. Increased productivity due to higher utilisation, increased billing rates and offshore shift led to improvement in margins to 165 basis points," said chief financial officer V Srinivas. "As such, we are increasing our fiscal year 2008 revenue guidance to $2.1 billion, from $2.08 billion (from 42% growth to 45.2%)," founder and chairman B Ramalinga Raju said.

"We mitigated the currency appreciation through judicious rate increases -- 2.4% for onsite work and 2.3% for offshore projects. These were our most significant increases ever. Additionally, we raised the percentage of our offshore work from 50.4% to 52.1%, which enhanced our operating margin," he added. The volume of work Satyam performed for clients also jumped by 9.4%.

Stating that the company was assessing the slowdown in business in the US, its major market that contributes 60% to its overall business, Raju said the company was closely watching the economic environment, which could have a bearing on its customers. "We, however, will be better prepared for some ground realities during the next financial year," he said.

During the quarter, Satyam added 32 new clients, eight of which are Fortune 500 companies taking its clientele base to 181 Fortune 500 companies. "We have made good progress during the quarter by bagging four large deals in different verticals, each valued at $50 million. We are in pursuit of 21 such big-ticket deals, some of which are from Europe and Asia Pacific," Ram Mynampati, president (commercial and healthcare businesses), Satyam, said. The company hired 3,424 associates in the third quarter with its attrition declining to 13.1% on a trailing twelve months basis.