Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has decided to enlarge its share re-purchase programme. Consequently, it has upped the authorisation under the share re-purchase programme by $400 million to $1 billion. Thus far, it has re-purchased $423 million of shares.
Besides enlarging the programme, Cognizant has also extended the expiry date for the re-purchase programme to December 31, 2013, says a release from the company.
Share re-purchase, according to the release, can happen either in the open market or through privately-negotiated deals in conformity with the law. The timing and extent of the buy, however, will be determined by the management, depending upon market conditions and assorted other factors. “The re-purchase will be funded using the company's case on hand and cash generated from operations,'' says the release.
Meanwhile, the company reported $1.71 billion revenue in the first quarter as against $1.37 billion in the same quarter in 2011, an increase of 24.8 per cent. GAPP-based net income stood at $243.7 million ($208.3 million). GAPP operating margin for the quarter was 18.6 per cent.
In a statement, Francisco D'Souza, Chief Executive Officer, said, “due to slower than anticipated acceleration in demand, we are adopting a more conservative stance for the remainder of the year and revising our guidelines to at least 20 per cent revenue growth for 2012.''
The company's revenue guidance for the second quarter is $1.79 billion. And, for the whole 2012, the revenue guidance is $7.34 billion.
Headcount
During a conference call, Cognizant said it had closed the quarter with 805 active customers. The number of strategic accounts had increased by 5 to 196 during the quarter under review. Cognizant said it finished the quarter with almost $2.5 billion of cash and short-term investments.
“We spent approximately $60.50 million for capital expenditures during the quarter. During 2012, we expect our capital expenditures to total about $370 million,'' officials said during the conference call.
The net headcount increased by almost 2,800 people during the quarter. About 30 per cent of gross additions for the quarter were direct college hires, while the reminder were lateral hires of experienced professionals. Cognizant ended the quarter with about 140,500 employees globally.
