Cognizant pips Wipro again, revenue up 31.6%

Cognizant Technology Solutions has beaten rival Wipro for the second consecutive quarter by posting31.6 per cent growth in revenue at $1.60 billion for the July-September period.

Cognizant's revenue was $1.21 billion in the same quarterlast year.

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Wipro's IT revenues on the other hand stood at $1.47 billionin the July-September. The Bangalore-based company follows April-March fiscal,while for Cognizant it is January through December.

Azim Premji-led Wipro earns 75 per cent of its revenue fromthe IT services. The division does not report net profit for the segment.

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Though Cognizant is not listed in India, 75 per cent of itsover 1.3 lakh employees are based in India.

This is the second consecutive quarter Cognizant has beatenits own guidance and registered higher revenues than Wipro.

In the April-June quarter, Cognizant for the first timetoppled Wipro from its spot as the third largest software exporter in India,with revenues of $1.49 billion.

Wipro in the same quarter had registered revenues to thetune of $1.40 billion.

Cognizant's profit for the third quarter ended September 30,2011, grew 11.48 per cent growth at $227.1 million from $203.7 million in the sameperiod last year.

Cognizant expects its revenues for the October-Decemberquarter to be "at least $1.66 billion".

Wipro on the other hand has given a somewhat conservativerevenue guidance of $1.5-1.53 billion for the same period.

"In spite of persistent macro-economic uncertainties,clients throughout the world continue to invest thoughtfully and strategicallyin their businesses and are directing investments toward building agility todrive the dual mandates of operational efficiency and businesstransformation," Cognizant President and CEO Francisco D'Souza said.

Cognizant's continued investments across multiple servicehorizons help address these dual mandates and drive superior business valueregardless of the economic environment, he added.

For the year 2011, revenue is expected to be at least $6.11billion, up at least 33 per cent compared to 2010, the company said.

During the quarter under review, Cognizant's netheadcount addition exceeded 12,000, which included about 4,000 employees fromthe CoreLogic India acquisition. Its attrition rate in the quarter was 13.4 percent.