Cognizant's global net profit rises 34%

The first quarter net profit of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, the information technology and consultancy trans-national, rose to $151.5 million (Rs 660 crore), up by 34 per cent from the year-ago quarter and 5.2 per cent sequentially. The company is headquartered in the US, but chose to also announce the global results here.

Revenue for the first quarter of 2010 rose to $959.7 million (Rs 4,222 crore), up by 28.7 per cent from $745.9 million (Rs 3,278 crore) in the first quarter of 2009.

“Against the backdrop of an improving macroeconomic environment, our first-quarter results confirm that our strategy of reinvestment continues to provide the platform for industry-leading growth,” said Francisco D’Souza, global president and CEO.

“The opportunities for further penetration within our core services market remain significant. Our investments during the downturn—in new areas including consulting and emerging markets; new solutions such as enterprise analytics; and, new technologies such as cloud and mobile computing—have left us stronger than ever before. Looking forward, we will continue to invest in new business opportunities and areas where Cognizant is under-penetrated to ensure we remain relevant to our clients and have a robust pipeline of growth opportunities to fuel Cognizant’s future growth,” he said.

Revenue for 2009-10 is expected to be at least $4.1 billion (Rs 18,860 crore), up by at least 25 per cent compared to 2009.

“Our aggressive hiring through the world during the past two quarters positions us well to meet the broad demand for our services,” said Gordon Coburn, Chief Financial and Operating Officer. “Opportunities to capture additional operational efficiencies, combined with an improving pricing environment, provide the levers to absorb expected wage inflation while achieving full-year operating margins within our targeted range of 19-20 per cent, excluding stock-based compensation expense.”