Cognizant topples Infosys as No 2 IT firm in India

Cognizant has pipped Infosys Technologies to become the second largest software company in India with a revenue of USD 1.79 billion (about Rs 9,938 crore) for the April-June quarter this year.

The revenue of Infosys for the same period was USD 1.75 billion (about Rs 9,716 crore).

Last year in the same quarter, Cognizant had toppled Wipro as the third largest software exporter in India. Unveiling its second quarter earning figures, the company said its net profit grew 21 per cent to USD 251.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, on a revenue of USD 1.79 billion. For the September quarter, Cognizant anticipates its revenues to be at least USD 1.875 billion, while for the 2012, it maintained outlook for revenue to be at least USD 7.34 billion (at least 20 per cent growth compared to 2011). With a bullish annual revenue outlook, Cognizant may remain at the number two spot as Infosys has given a muted guidance of 5 per cent growth for the year, given the uncertainty in the global environment. Infosys expects revenues to be USD 7.343 billion in FY’13.

Cognizant follows a January-December fiscal while Infosys financial year runs through April-March. Though Cognizant is not listed in India, three-fourth of its over 1.45 lakh employees are based in India and is often referred to as an Indian entity.

Cognizant CEO Francisco D’Souza said, “Clients continue to turn to Cognizant to help reinvent their business models in the face of secular industry changes, evolving demographics, and a new stack of social, mobile, analytics, and cloud technologies.”

Shares of Cognizant were trading at USD 64.61, 11.67 per cent higher than its previous close on Nasdaq in early trade.