Satyam?s turnaround has been a matter of great concern. After the accounting scandal sunk the company ?tarnishing to some extent Indian IT?s brand image?there was considerable doubt about how the firm will spring back to shape. So when news broke that Mahindra Satyam?s net profit for the second quarter grew 10-fold to R238.24 crore on a year-on-year basis, it was natural for industry watchers to heave a sigh of relief. After all, it is painful to see a promising company going down the ranks.
Market estimates were beaten by some margin as the company rode on great demand for its outsourcing services and rupee depreciation. Operational income from the quarter rose 27% from a year ago period and sequentially net profit was up 6%, while revenue grew 10%, compared to the first quarter. It was a stellar performance? something that Mahindra Satyam can always be proud of. Chairman Vineet Nayyar and CEO CP Gurnani deserve all the credit.
Nayyar was quite vocal about his feelings. ?As we come towards the end of our three-year transformation journey, it is indeed satisfying to see that all our key business performance
indicators such as growth, profitability and talent retention are on course. We have shown significant improvement quarter-on-quarter, in spite of an uncertain macro-economic environment,? he said.
Said Gurnani, ?Our emphasis on differentiation and scaling up our market share through verticalised solutions is bearing fruit.
Investments into emerging areas such as enterprise mobility and smart grid are gaining momentum.?
Nayyar and Gurnani have shown enormous will power and perseverance to get the company to this stage. Business has grown and customer acquisition has been robust. The company added 36 new customers in the second quarter, including three Fortune 500 companies. A couple of years ago, the firm was either losing clients or was struggling to hold on to existing ones. Times have changed indeed.
LinkedIn?s India link
LinkedIn has started believing in the Indian story too. It has opened a research and development centre in Bangalore?its first such office outside North America. The new centre in Bangalore will support and operate the website?s basic technology infrastructure that is used to build the central products and features. LinkedIn has 12 million subscribers in India. Globally it has 135 million members. Just like in any other business, India is where the action is and LinkedIn too has made the right investment at the right location.
Nokia?s year-end buzz Nokia?s mid-December launch of the Lumia family of smartphones based on Windows Phone is much awaited. The devices are priced between 420 euros and 270 euros in Europe. The device has Nokia Maps & Drive, which delivers a full-fledged personal navigation device (PND) with free, turn-by-turn navigation voice guided navigation in 50 languages. Its pricing in India will be key. Something for Nokia fans to look forward to.
According to the company, the Windows Phone Marketplace will have 750 locally relevant apps created by Indian partners.