IT major Cognizant Q3 income down 30%

New Delhi: IT major Cognizant has reported about 30 per cent drop in September quarter net income at $348 million (around Rs 2,578.3 crore). The US-based company, which posted a net income of $497 million in September 2019 quarter, said it expects its FY2020 revenue to be “at the high end of the previously guided range of approximately $16.7 billion”.

For the September 2020 quarter, Cognizant’s revenue was almost flat at $4.2 billion, including a negative 130 basis points impact from the exit of certain content services, Cognizant said in a statement. Cognizant  which has about 2 lakh employees based in India — follows January-December as financial year.

“Against a challenging demand environment, we continued to strengthen our portfolio, execute our digital strategy and increase our competitiveness,” Cognizant chief executive officer Brian Humphries said. Clients are realising they can distinguish themselves if they embrace disruption and transform, and the company is committed to making that easy for them, he added. Cognizant’s headcount stood at 2,83,100 at the end of the September 2020 quarter.

The company said its year-to-date bookings increased 15 per cent, and since the beginning of the third quarter till October 27 it has returned to shareholders over $700 million through share repurchases and $120 million in dividends. “FY2020 revenue is expected to be at the high end of the previously guided range at approximately $16.7 billion, or a decline of 0.4 per cent in constant currency,” the company said. In FY2019, the company had posted a revenue of $16.8 billion.