Satyam stock plunges over 18 per cent

Shares of  Satyam Computer Services plunged over 18 per cent following reports that the World Bank has barred the IT major from receiving contracts from it.

The Satyam scrip opened at Rs130 on the Bombay Stock Exchange and plunged further to a 52-week low at Rs114.65, down 18.34 per cent. On the National Stock Exchange, the scrip fell 18.59 per cent to another 52-week-low of Rs114.55.

Satyam, however, closed higher at 134.95, down Rs5.45 or 3.88 per cent on the BSE.

''Satyam was declared ineligible for contracts for providing improper benefits to Bank staff and for failing to maintain documentation to support fees charges for its sub- contractors," the World bank said in a statement.

The World Bank, however, said there was no evidence that Satyam was involved in malicious attacks on the Bank's information systems.

The World Bank, which had earlier temporarily suspended Satyam in February this year, decided to declare Satyam ineligible to receive direct contracts under its corporate procurement programme after it was proved that its officials used improper means to secure contracts.
 
The report comes close on the heels of an abortive move by Satyam founder-chairman to forge an acquisition deal for its two infrastructure firms - Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties, which also sent its stock crashing..

The market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India and the government had said that they would look into the matter.

On the other hand, shares of IT major Wipro  surged nearly five per cent to touch an intra-day high of Rs254.80, a day after the company acquired the 100 per cent subsidiary of global financial services firm Citigroup, Citi Technology Services Ltd (CTS), for $127 million.