Cognizant Q4 net up 16.7% to $423.4 mn; cuts 2016 revenue guidance

New Delhi: IT services major Cognizant Monday posted a 16.7 percent rise in net profit at USD 423.4 million for the December quarter from USD 362.9 million a year ago.

The US-based firm, which has a large part of its workforce based in India, met its revenue guidance at USD 3.23 billion in the said quarter, up 17.9 percent from USD 2.74 billion in the October-December 2014 quarter.

For 2015, its net profit rose by 13.2 percent to USD 1.62 billion, while revenues were up 21 percent at USD 12.42 billion.

Cognizant had forecast its revenues for the fourth quarter to be at least USD 3.23 billion and USD 12.41 billion for 2015 (higher by at least 21 percent year-on-year).

However, it has slashed its revenue guidance for 2016 fiscal. It expects revenues to grow 9.9-14.3 percent over 2015 to be in the range of USD 13.65 billion to USD 14.20 billion.

For the January-March 2016 quarter, it has forecast revenues to be in the range of USD 3.18-3.24 billion.

The company follows January-December as its fiscal year.

"We are pleased with our strong performance in 2015. 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," Cognizant CEO Francisco D'Souza said.

The firm added (net) about 2,400 employees to take the year-end headcount to around 2,21,700.

"In 2015, we strengthened our position as a leading digital transformation partner for our clients. 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," Cognizant President Gordon Coburn said.