Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has reported strong topline and bottomline growth for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2015. The US-headquartered IT services firm has met its upwardly revised revenue growth guidance for the full year 2015.
Its net profit grew by 16.7 per cent at $ 423.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 when compared with $ 362.9 million in a year-ago period. Its revenue registered an increase of 17.9 per cent at $ 3.23 billion ($ 2.74 billion), but on a sequential basis, it grew marginally by 1.4 per cent.
For the calendar year 2015, the company posted a net profit of $1.62 billion when compared with $1.44 billion in 2014. Revenue grew by 21 per cent to $12.42 billion when compared with $10.26 billion in 2014. The company had raised its full-year revenue growth guidance to 21 per cent while announcing its Q3 performance.
“Our investments in disruptive technologies, new business models and best-in-class delivery uniquely position us to enable clients to drive digital transformation at enterprise scale,” Francisco D’Souza, CEO of the company said.
“In 2015, we strengthened our position as a leading digital transformation partner for our clients,” said Gordon Coburn, President adding, “While digital opportunities significantly expand our addressable market, our rapidly growing consulting, infrastructure and business process services and geographic market expansion, continue to be solid drivers of demand for our services.”
Healthcare vertical, which accounted for about 29 per cent of the topline, posted highest growth of 23.2 per cent year-on-year. Financial services, which contributed 40.5 per cent to the total revenues, posted an increase of 16.6 per cent.
While North American region continued to make major portion (78.4 per cent) of its revenues (with 18.7 per cent growth in Q4 year-on-year), Europe revenues from Europe saw a rise of 9.6 per cent and formed 16 cent of its Q4 revenues.
Meanwhile, the company has projected lower revenue guidance (in the range of $ 13.65 billion-$ 14.20 billion) for the calendar year 2016. It has given revenue guidance in the range of $3.18 billion-$3.24 billion) for the first quarter of 2016.
“Our cash and investment balances, net of debt, grew by $1.5 billion during 2015 due to our strong business performance and strong cash flows,” said Karen McLoughlin, Chief Financial Officer of the company.
“In addition, this strong cash flow allowed us to repurchase during the year over $ 375 million of our shares under our existing stock repurchase program, reflecting our commitment to drive shareholder value,” he added.
