Cognizant Names Vodafone Business Chief Brian Humphries as New CEO

It is for the first time that Cognizant has picked an outsider as its new CEO, according to a media report.

A file photo of Brian Humphries.

(Photo courtesy: Twitter/Brian Humphries)

Information Technology company Cognizant on Wednesday, 6 February, announced that Brian Humphries, current CEO of Vodafone Business, will be its chief executive officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective 1 April 2019, news agency PTI reported.

It is for the first time that Cognizant has picked an outsider as its new CEO, according to an Economic Times report.

Presently the CEO of Vodafone Business, Humphries joined Vodafone after working in Dell as the President and Chief Operating Officer of its Infrastructure Solutions Group, based in Boston and Geneva, the ET report said.

Before joining Dell, Humphries reportedly worked with Hewlett-Packard in different roles including senior vice president, Emerging Markets and chief of staff to the chairman.

Cognizant Posts Net Income of USD 648 Million in Q4

The company on Wednesday posted a net income of USD 648 million for the fourth quarter ended 31 December 2018, PTI reported. It had recorded a net loss of USD 18 million in the same period, a year ago.

The revenue of the company stood at USD 4.13 billion, up 7.9 percent from USD 3.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.

“Cognizant executed well in 2018, diversifying our revenue base and client roster, and investing to build distinctive leadership in six advanced digital capabilities.”

Francisco D’Souza, Cognizant Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

For the full year ended 31 December 2018, it posted an increase of 39.6 percent in net income at USD 2.1 billion compared to USD 1.5 billion at the end of 2017.

The annual revenue of the company increased by 8.8 percent to USD 16.1 billion in 2018 from USD 14.8 billion in the previous year.

“In 2018, we continued to focus on operational excellence to drive margin enhancement, while continuing to invest in the business. In addition, we introduced a more balanced capital return program to start in 2019.” 

Karen McLoughlin, Cognizant Chief Financial Officer

The company, however, said that based on current foreign exchange rates, it expect first quarter and full year 2019 revenue growth to be negatively impacted by 170 basis points and 70 basis points, respectively.

(With inputs from PTI and the Economic Times)