We're still a top-tier Indian service provider, claims Satyam

Mahindra Satyam says it has not lost customers since the acquisition

Satyam has responded to widespread industry comment that it is shedding staff and may be de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Computing recently reported on the high staff turnover in the upper management echelons at Mahindra Satyam. Dr Roger Newman, senior vice president UK and Ireland at Mahindra Satyam, believes that the situation is to be expected.

“All companies have attrition,” he began. “Look at any of our peers and you’ll see turnover at a senior level. Before the crisis [where Satyam chairman Ramalinga Raju admitted fraud] we had a lot of senior guys looking to grow their businesses at a certain rate. They ended up with smaller portfolios, so they decided to move.”

In April 2009, barely three months after the financial scandal, Satyam was bought by systems integrator and consultancy Tech Mahindra, becoming Mahindra Satyam. Newman denies that cultural differences have prompted staff moves.

“It has been a light-touch integration. The new CEO and four or five senior positions have come from Tech Mahindra. They’ve tried to preserve the Satyam culture,” he said.

But Newman was unaware of impending legal battles, including suits from investors in the US and India where the firm is listed. According to Sudin Apte, principal analyst at Forrester Research, there are also several lawsuits filed by the Raju family to claim back about £163m.

Mahindra Satyam recently announced that it would postpone its financial reporting for a further three months – it has not reported since December 2008. It has missed several deadlines this year, with the most recent being extended to the end of September. The NYSE has threatened to de-list the company if it fails to report by October.

Newman was keen to state that the September deadline would be met: “Everything’s on track. We only just missed the last deadline.”

When asked why it was taking so long to produce records, he said: “The task was underestimated at first. It has been a painstaking process, requiring a lot of detailed work from a lot of people. The legal investigation makes a complicated task even worse. We’ve also had to wait on external auditors.”

Newman was keen to contradict speculation that Satyam has been continually losing customers as a result of its troubles. “Some customers made the decision to leave after the January crisis, but we haven’t lost any since the acquisition. We’ve added tens of customers in Europe, and renewed some significant contracts.”

A Forrester report shows that the company lost more than $800m (£522m) in the six months following the exposure of the fraud.

He concluded that the market was still strong for the company. “The Indian IT services market is still on a growth curve. The pure Indian IT players are still doing well.”