Satyam doubles SA revenue

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 23 Jan 2008

Indian IT giant Satyam has doubled its revenue in SA, says Virender Aggarwal, the company`s Singapore-based VP for the Asia, Pacific, India, the Middle East and Africa (APAC-MEIA).

Commenting on the global player`s third quarter (Q3) results, he said the company "made significant moves in key regions, verticals and services", including FIFA, which awarded Satyam key 2010 World Cup IT contracts.

"Our revenue in SA grew over 100% and we crossed the 100-employee threshold in SA." Aggarwal adds that this figure excludes trainees recruited from here and currently undergoing postgraduate training in India.

"Satyam continues to commit to local skills-building. In the last three months, another 45 local graduates have been taken in for the 12-month skills-development programme."

The company has also opened a Cape Town office and is "evaluating the idea of setting up a near shore delivery centre to service some of [our] large clients". Aggarwal adds that clients in Botswana and Mauritius are now also being served from SA. "We are working in 15 other African countries and have just now set up a sales operation in Kenya."

Acquisition planned

Aggarwal says Satyam did well in its third quarter, which ended 31 December, "with revenue reported at $562.9 million. This amounts to year-on-year growth of 49.9% with APAC-MEIA contributing 19.46% of global revenue."

In addition to the results announcement, Satyam has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire US-based Bridge Strategy Group LLC, a Chicago-based management consulting firm, "to reinforce its strategy consulting and business transformation capabilities".

Satyam also added 32 new customers in the quarter, including eight US Fortune 500 corporations; bringing the total number of customers that Satyam partners to 630. The company now employs 49 199 IT associates.