Satyam Infoway Q2 cash loss narrows

MUMBAI: Satyam Infoway on Wednesday said its cash loss in July-September

narrowed by 21.3 per cent from the previous quarter and by two per cent from a

year earlier.

The Chennai-based firm, which also offers technology and e-commerce

solutions, said it had a cash loss of $4.8 million in the second quarter

compared with $6.1 million in April-June and $4.9 million in the same quarter

last year.

It said total revenue for the quarter was $10.9 million, up 17.2 per cent

from the previous quarter and up 21.1 per cent from a year earlier. The

quarter's operational performance had been driven by revenue growth, cost

reduction and tight working capital management, said a statement quoting R.

Ramaraj, managing director and chief executive officer.

Satyam Infoway said its corporate services, including network and

e-consulting services, contributed a dominant 61 per cent to total revenue. The

firm had a net loss of $117 million for the past quarter mainly because of a

one-time non-cash charge of $109.3 million to write off goodwill and other

acquisition costs.

"Goodwill on acquisitions has been written off this quarter as a

conservative response to the decline in market valuations of Internet

stocks," the statement quoted Ramaraj as saying.

Satyam Infoway, a subsidiary of India's fourth-largest software exporter

Satyam Computer Services Ltd, has made a clutch of acquisitions over the past

two years aimed at capturing a chunk of the vast market of overseas Indians.

The results were announced before the start of trade on the Nasdaq exchange,

where Satyam Infoway is listed. Its American Depositary Receipts closed down 5.3

per cent at $1.18 at the Nasdaq exchange on Tuesday.

(C) Reuters Limited.