Cognizant's Sales And Profit Soar

Demonstrating further proof of the popularity of sending IT-services work offshore, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. on Tuesday reported a sharp increase in net income and revenue for its second quarter, ended June 30.

Cognizant, which is based in the United States but relies primarily on an offshore model with development centers in India and Ireland, reported that net income rose 56% to $13.5 million and revenue rose 61% to $87.4 million from the year-ago quarter. "Our solid second-quarter results reflect Cognizant's strong position as a leader in the fast-growing offshore-services market," CEO and chairman Kumar Mahadeva said in a statement. Mahadeva said clients' ability to cut business-process costs through offshore outsourcing plays a big part in Cognizant's success, and demand is particularly strong in the financial-services and health-care markets.

Most of Cognizant's growth is coming from established customers: The company reports that 83% of its revenue for the quarter came from clients who've been using Cognizant for at least one year.

Cognizant reported that revenue was up 17% from its first quarter. Aces, a provider of customer-relationship management products that Cognizant acquired in April, accounted for $2.3 million of the company's revenue for the second quarter.