Cognizant posts net income of USD 648 mn in Q4 2018; names new CEO

IT company Cognizant Wednesday posted net income of USD 648 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2018.

It had recorded a net loss of USD 18 million in the same period a year ago.

Cognizant also announced that Brian Humphries, currently CEO of Vodafone Business, will be its chief executive officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective from April 1, 2019.

The revenue of the company stood at USD 4.13 billion, up 7.9 per cent from USD 3.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.

"Cognizant executed well in 2018, diversifying our revenue base and client roster, and investing to build distinctive leadership in six advanced digital capabilities, Cognizant Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Francisco D'Souza said in a statement.

For the full year ended December 31, 2018, it posted an increase of 39.6 per cent in net income at USD 2.1 billion compared to USD 1.5 billion at the end of 2017.

The annual revenue of the company increased by 8.8 per cent to USD 16.1 billion in 2018 from USD 14.8 billion in the previous year.

"In 2018, we continued to focus on operational excellence to drive margin enhancement, while continuing to invest in the business. In addition, we introduced a more balanced capital return program to start in 2019, Cognizant Chief Financial Officer Karen McLoughlin said.

The company, however, said that based on current foreign exchange rates, it expect first quarter and full year 2019 revenue growth to be negatively impacted by 170 basis points and 70 basis points, respectively.