BANGALORE (Reuters) - Satyam Computer Services Ltd , which is in the process of a merger with parent Tech Mahindra Ltd , reported an 56.4 percent rise in quarterly profit, beating expectations after winning orders including a key contract from a metals and finance company.
Profits for the first quarter ended June 30 rose to 3.52 billion rupees from 2.25 billion rupees in the year-earlier period, Satyam said in a statement. That compares with analysts' estimate of 2.7 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Billionaire Anand Mahindra had purchased Satyam in a government-sponsored sale in 2009 after the founder of the Hyderabad-based company admitted to one of India's largest accounting frauds.
Mahindra is seeking to create a consolidated IT services powerhouse by merging Satyam and Tech Mahindra, which provide software services to clients mostly in the United States, Europe and Australia.
Tech Mahindra, which owns close to 43 percent of Satyam, is offering one share in itself for every 8.5 shares of Satyam to absorb the company, they said in March.
Shares of Satyam, valued at about $1.8 billion, have risen almost 30 percent this year, compared with a 7.6 percent fall in the sector index dragged down by Infosys .
Last month, Infosys, which has lost about one-fifth of its market value this year, had cut its sales growth forecast for the current fiscal year.
Top-ranked Tata Consultancy Services , however, beat estimates and said it expected to beat the industry export revenue growth forecast of 11-14 percent by an industry lobby.
(Reporting By Harichandan Arakali)
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian gold futures steadied on Thursday, following global leads, but traders sought price direction ahead of the monetary policy statement from the European Central Bank.
* The most-active gold for August delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange was 0.26 percent higher at 29,684 rupees per 10 grams at 1040 GMT.
* ECB chief Mario Draghi boosted hopes for fresh action to help the euro last week when he said he would do whatever was necessary to protect the single currency.
* "Any such central bank event is vital to the market and people generally refuse to take positions before this," said a dealer with a private bank in Mumbai.
* Physical demand has been subdued so far this year and is expected to remain dull.
* The festival season starts in August in India, the world's biggest gold buyer in 2011, and continues till November.
* Traders are also watching the monsoon forecast for the second half of the June-September season, which is vital to gold demand in rural areas.
* Monsoon rains, which have been below normal so far, are vital to the farm economy in rural areas, which account for 60 percent of gold demand.
* Silver for September delivery on the MCX was 0.09 percent higher at 53,221 rupees per kg.
(Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
