Hyderabad-based Satyam Computer?s BPO arm Nipuna Services Ltd is scouting for acquisitions in the financial accounting and procurement segment. Nipuna chief executive officer Venkatesh Roddam said on Wednesday that the company is considering buyouts in the next 12-18 months.
?Our acquisition strategy has to go hand in hand with what Satyam perceives. It could be a tactical acquisition, purely focused on the BPO segment or it could be a large buy,? he said.
Roddam also said Nipuna would grow its organic business through banking and financial services, healthcare, insurance and pharmaceuticals.
Nipuna was able to mitigate rising costs and rupee appreciation by offering high-end services and commanding better prices for it, he said. Roddam said the company had been able to renew contracts in some of the high-end services like animation at 25-30% higher rates, while other contracts were renewed at prices which are 8-10% higher.
Animation services contribute 20% to Nipuna?s revenue. Sixty per cent of the company?s revenue comes from non-voice-related services and Roddam said margins were usually higher in this segment by 10% compared to voice-related services.
Nipuna currently has six facilities in the country spread across Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai and there are no immediate plans to add more centres. Currently, it has 3,297 employees.
For the first quarter ended June 30, Nipuna reported revenue of Rs 48.9 crore and a net loss of Rs 8.28 crore.
For the financial year ending March 31, 2008, it has given a guidance of Rs 250-crore revenue and the company expects to make profit in the current year.