The company’s revenues were down by 2.3% year-over-year to $4.18bn
An offshore delivery centre of Cognizant in Chennai, India. (Credit: Cognizant Technology Solution)
Cognizant has reported a net income of $316m for the fourth quarter of 2020, a 20% decrease compared to $395m for the same quarter of the previous year.
The diluted earnings per share for the US-based professional services company for the reported quarter were $0.59 compared to $0.72 in Q4 2019.
Cognizant’s revenues were decreased by 2.3% to $4.18bn in Q4 2020 from $4.28bn in the same quarter of the previous year.
For the full year 2020 (FY20), Cognizant’s net income was $1.39bn compared to $1.84bn made in FY19. Its revenues for FY20 were $16.65bn compared to $16.78bn earned in the previous year.
The company said that an expected exit from a customer engagement in the financial services unit in Continental Europe negatively affected its revenues by $107m and $118m for Q4 2020 and FY20, respectively.
Cognizant CEO Brian Humphries said: “We accomplished a great deal in the past year whilst keeping our clients and our talented associates foremost in mind.
“Having strengthened our portfolio, and anticipating the exit of a large financial services engagement, we enter 2021 reinvigorated by our growing commercial momentum, investments in our future, and our vision to become the preeminent technology services partner to clients globally.”
Revenues for the financial services unit for the reported quarter came down by 11.1% year-over-year to $1.3bn. The reduced revenues were driven by declines in banking and also insurance services, said the US firm.
The healthcare unit contributed revenues of $1.27bn in Q4 2020, a 4% increase year-over-year, which was achieved by growth in healthcare and life sciences.
Cognizant’s products and resources unit saw its fourth-quarter revenues drop by 1.6% year-over-year to $948m. The company said that the unit’s performance was due to the impact caused by the pandemic on retail, consumer goods, travel, and hospitality clients.
The communications, media, and technology unit of the US firm had an increase of 4.6% year-over-year to its Q4 2020 revenues at $661m.