Satyam's profit probably rose 132 percent to 976.79 million rupees (US$21 million) in the three months ended March, from 420 million rupees (US$9 million) in the year-ago period, according to an average of 10 analysts polled by Bloomberg. Sales may have climbed to 3.57 billion rupees (US$76.6 million) during the period, from 2.06 billion rupees (US$44.2 million).
"Billing and utilization rates at the company have been improving," said Yeshwanth Kini, an analyst with SG Securities Ltd, in Mumbai. Kini expects a 4 percent growth in billing rates for the software company.
Satyam, which makes software to help companies such as General Electric Co conduct business on the Internet, has been able to tap India's large pool of engineers to make world-class software at costs lower than rivals. As the US economy expands at its slowest pace in five years, this could prove a big attraction for customers overseas.
The Indian software developer may have made a profit of 3.03 billion rupees (US$65 million) in the 12 months ended March, from 1.34 billion rupees in the year-earlier period.
"Satyam has a lot of old economy clients such as Ford Motor Co," because of which the company won't be hurt in the slowdown, said Jayesh Parekh, an analyst with SMIFS Securities Ltd, in Mumbai.
The company's board is expected to meet in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad today at 3.30pm local time. The earnings results will be announced after the stock market closes.
E-business
Satyam, which also develops software for companies such as Palm Inc, the world's No 1 maker of electronic organizers, earned 30.7 percent of its revenue in the third quarter by providing e-commerce solutions for companies such as General Motors Corp--the biggest carmaker--and General Electric Co, the largest maker of turbines for power plants.
In the quarter, Satyam won customers such as Dubai Duty Free, to help Dubai Airport's shopping system manage inventory and sales.
To handle its growing business, the company plans to add as many as 3,000 software engineers in the next 12 months. This is apart from the 3,700 staff it had targeted to hire in the year ending March.
Still, the slowdown in the US has forced Satyam to pare costs. The company is cutting staff at its unprofitable US subsidiary Vision Compass Inc. which will help Vision Compass save as much as US$1.1 million every month.
Satyam is also scouting for investors to put money in Vision Compass, which makes software that helps measure business performance and lost US$11 million in the year-ended March 2000.
The software maker, which plans to sell shares in the US later this year, yesterday rose 3.8 percent to 235.40 rupees on the Mumbai stock exchange.
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