Cognizant's Q4 net up 73%

Cognizant Technology Solutions' net income for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2004 increased by 72.88 per cent to $30.6 million as compared to the $17.7 million registered in the fourth quarter in 2003. The Nasdaq-listed company was recently inducted into the Nasdaq-100 index.

Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2004 went up by 59.75 per cent to $172.7 million as compared to the $108.1 million for the same quarter in 2003. Earnings per diluted share for the same period in 2004 was $0.2 as against $0.13 in 2003.

As for the year ended December 31, 2004, Cognizant's net income rose by 74.86 per cent to $100.2 million over the $ 57.3 million that it recorded in same period in 2003.

It witnessed a 59.3 per cent increase in total revenues to $586.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2004 as against the $368.2 million that it registered in 2003. Its diluted earnings per share stood at $0.70 in 2004 as compared to the $0.42 per diluted share earning in 2003 (includes adjustment for stock split in June 2004).

In a press release, Lakshmi Narayanan, president and CEO of Cognizant, said, "We are pleased with Cognizant's strong results in the fourth quarter and full year of 2004, which outpaced the performance of the industry overall. We attribute the growth to a number of factors, all of which reflect the success of our focus on providing customers with business-driven technology solutions through our onsite, offshore model."

He mentioned that they experienced traction within Europe, as well as strong growth overall across financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and retail verticals. The company added 1,300 associates in the fourth quarter of 2004, ending the year with 15,300 employees, an increase of 6,000 for the full year.

Cognizant's guidance for the financial performance in 2005 said that the revenue would be $845 million and diluted earnings per share would reach $0.96. It plans to increase its total headcount to 22,500 by the end December 2005.