Megasoft shares dive on World Bank contract ban

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Shares of software firm Megasoft fell as much as 13 percent to the lowest in at least five years after its unit was banned from contracts by the World Bank, even as its chief said the move had no impact on revenue.

The World Bank said it barred Megasoft from bidding for contracts for four years in December 2007 for "participating in a joint venture with Bank staff while also conducting business with the Bank," as part of its new disclosure policy.

"From a revenue impact ... we have none," G.V. Kumar, Megasoft's managing director and chief executive officer, said on NDTV Profit business news channel. "(for) more than four and a half years we have done no business with the Bank anyway."

The company has been progressively moving its focus away from on-site work to telecom products-related work and offshore services and hence the Bank's ban will not have any material impact, he added.

In a statement posted on its website, the World Bank said it has decided to publicly name all the companies that have been debarred from receiving direct contracts from the Bank under its corporate procurement programme.

Wipro Technologies has been barred for four years for providing improper benefits to the Bank's staff, while Satyam Computer faces an eight-year ban for providing improper benefits to Bank staff and for incomplete documentation.

Shares of Megasoft, which fell to a low of 13.80 rupees in the day, are trading nearly 6 percent lower at 14.90 rupees in a weak Mumbai market.