Cognizant reports $18-million loss in Q4

US-based IT major Cognizant today reported a net loss of $18 million for the December 2017 quarter compared to a profit of $416 million in the year-ago period. 
 
The loss is on account of one-time provisional income tax expense of $617 million related to the Tax Reform Act in the US, the company said in a statement.
 
However, the information technology giant's revenue grew 10.6% to $3.83 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017 from $3.46 billion in the same period a year ago.
 
During 2017, the company saw its revenue rise 9.8%to $14.81 billion, meeting the company's topline forecast of 9-10% during the year. Its net profit was at $1.5 billion in 2017.
 
Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.03 in this quarter compared to $0.87 in the fourth quarter of 2016. 
 
GAAP operating margin was 17.2% and non-GAAP operating margin1 was 19.7% for the fourth quarter of 2017.
 
“We expect our overall effective corporate income tax rate to be approximately 24% for 2018 and 24-26% in 2019,” the statement said.
 
“Consistent and solid execution throughout 2017, along with continued investments to further accelerate the shift to digital during the year, gives us confidence that we can deliver a strong 2018,” said Francisco D’Souza, chief executive officer at Cognizant.
 
“As companies that are already leaders in their industries integrate their domain knowledge with today’s tremendously powerful technologies like artificial intelligence, analytics, and cloud, we see a new generation of digital heavyweights emerging," the CEO added. 
 
D’Souza said Cognizant was resolved to be the go-to partner to these digital-industrial leaders and also to its fast-growing digital-native clients.