Cognizant Q1 net profit up 94%

NEW DELHI: Cognizant Technology Solutions has reported a net profit of $19.8 million for the quarter ended March 2004 as against $10.2 million during the corresponding period last year. The company’s total revenue during the quarter increased to $119.7 million, 61 percent over the corresponding previous year performance of $74.5 million. Operating margin for the quarter held steady at 19.8%, compared to 19.8% in the fourth quarter of 2003 and 19.5% in the first quarter of 2003.

"Cognizant continues to deliver strong operating and financial performance as demand for high value offshore services continues to grow, with particularly strong interest in core application development and management services," stated president and CEO of Cognizant, Lakshmi Narayanan. "We have maintained our position as the fastest-growing company among the major offshore IT Services firms through our strong focus and commitment to the superior execution of our onsite/offshore business strategy. We continue to see strong growth across our key verticals, especially in financial services and insurance. We expect the momentum to continue and reiterate our expectation to grow the business faster than the industry's growth rate throughout 2004," he added.

Cognizant CFO, Gordon Coburn said, "During the quarter we increased our global staff by over 1,200 people to approximately 10,500 to meet current and anticipated demand. In addition, our sales pipeline is at a record level. We are optimistic about the outlook for this year and believe we are well-positioned to deliver strong financial and operating results."

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