Satyam Q4 net rises 18.5 pc, below forecast

Satyam Computer Services Ltd, India's No 4 software exporter, reported a 18.5 per cent rise in quarterly profit on Monday, lagging forecasts, as a slowdown in the United States crimped outsourcing deals.

New York-listed Satyam, which specialises in business software and offers back-office outsourcing services, said consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March rose to 4.67 billion rupees ($117 million) up from 3.94 billion a year ago.

A Reuters poll had forecast a mean net profit of 4.84 billion rupees for Satyam, whose customers include General Electric, Nestle, Qantas Airways, Emirates Bank International and Fujitsu Services.

Satyam reported its earnings after bigger rivals Infosys Technologies Ltd and Wipro Ltd just missed market forecasts and sounded cautious on the short-term outlook on growing signs of a recession in their key US market.

Top exporter Tata Consultancy Services Ltd is expected to report a 17 per cent rise in its March quarter net profit later on Monday.

A slowdown in the United States is a major worry for India's estimated $64 billion software services sector, which gets more than half its revenue from the world's largest economy.

Shares in Satyam, based in the southern city of Hyderabad, fell 12 per cent in the March quarter, compared to a 22 per cent decline in the IT sector index and a 23 per cent drop in the main Mumbai index.

($1=39.9 rupees)

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by John Mair)