Beleaguered software services major Satyam Computers on Wednesday bit the dust on the bourses and lost as much as Rs10,000 crore in market capitalisation (m-cap) in a single trading session, after the scrip dipped to hit an all-time low level.

It saw a massive value erosion and fell nearly 80%, after the management revealed malpractices in accounting methods. The company had a market capitalisation of Rs12,067.98 crore on Tuesday and by the end of Wednesday’s trading session its m-cap stood at Rs2,691.88 crore.

The scrip, which fell by as much as 83% to witness an intra-day low of Rs30.70, managed to close with a fall of 77.69% at Rs39.95 on the BSE index.

“In the long run the scrip can witness levels down to as much as Rs20. The company was operating at a margin of 3%, the lowest by any firm. It was doing business on cost basis and the books were kept inflated,” Arun Kejriwal of Kejriwal Reserach and Investment Services said.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the scrip plunged to a low of Rs41.05, down 77.06% from its previous close. The scrip had witnessed the day’s low of Rs30.80, down 82.78% over last closing.
The counter saw frantic selling after the news broke out, and over 48 crore shares had changed hands on both the bourses.

Satyam stock holds a 1.56% weight in the 30-share bluechip index - Sensex. Following the same, the Sensex also plunged over 749 points or over 7% to settle at 9,586 points on the BSE.

Ramalinga Raju, on Wednesday resigned as Satyam’s chairman after admitting to financial wrong doings in the company’s balance sheet. He was under attack over the $1.6 billion acquisition fiasco of firms promoted by his family.