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IT stocks in focus after Cognizant earnings [Jerusalem Post (Israel)](Jerusalem Post (Israel) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) IT stocks may edge higher after Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation which provides information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services on Wednesday, 5 November 2014, raised its guidance for 2014 revenue and non-GAAP EPS after announcing Q3 September 2014 results. Cognizant now expects non-GAAP diluted EPS of least $2.57 in 2014. At the time of announcement of second quarter June 2014 results in August this year, Cognizant had forecast 2014 non-GAAP diluted EPS of at least $2.54. Cognizant's revenue jumped 11.9% to $2.58 billion in Q3 September 2014 over Q3 September 2013. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share stood at $0.66 in Q3 September 2014, compared to $0.59 in Q3 September 2013. Non-GAAP operating margin was 19.5% in Q3 September 2014, within the company's target range of 19-20%. Shares of infrastructure developers will be in focus after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, 5 November 2014, directed strict monitoring of projects based on monthly completion targets for road, railway, shipping and civil aviation projects. Emphasizing that there is now no delay in decision-making at the highest level, the Prime Minister said it should now be possible to achieve all infrastructure targets. Modi said that a new civil aviation policy is under preparation. Following the decision to allow 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in Railways, 20 projects in 10 sectors have been identified for FDI, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement. Bharti Airtel after market hours on Wednesday, 5 November 2014 in a clarification with regard to news item titled Bharti Airtel Calls off Rs 700 cr Deal with Loop said that under the agreements executed with Loop Mobile (Loop), the transaction was conditional upon DoT approvals which even as of today has not been received. In this regard the company has been in discussions with Loop, Bharti Airtel said. Loop had late last evening sent the company an email noting that DoT approvals had not yet been received and had also noted that it was way beyond the time envisaged for securing such approval, Bharti Airtel said. In light of this update and the fact that Loop's mobile license is to expire at the end of this month, Bharti Airtel has decided to terminate the discussions with regard to the transaction for acquiring subscribers of Loop, the company said. Bharti Airtel further said that other than the agreements that were mentioned in the press release of 18 February 2014, no further agreements have been entered into between the parties, though there would be some correspondence as is normal in such transactions, Bharti Airtel said. Bharti Airtel further said that it has fully complied with its disclosure obligations under clause 36 and that it is not aware of any information which could explain the movement in trading of shares as mentioned in the aforesaid email, it added. GAIL (India) on 5 November 2014, clarified that allegations made by a section of people on cut in APM gas supplies are not true and there has not been any arbitrary or selective reduction in allocations to small industrial customers in South Gujarat. In fact, special emphasis is being given to protect the interest of small customers (those presently having allocation of domestic gas up to 50,000 SCMD). Under these guidelines, present level of supply upto a maximum of 5,000 SCMD is reserved for small customers and kept out from the purview of the pro-rata cut, GAIL (India) said. This allays any concerns of the small customers, including glass units in South Gujarat, the company said. Infosys announced on Thursday, 6 November 2014, a major recruitment drive in the US to support the growth of its business and enhance its capabilities. The company plans to hire 1,500 professionals for consulting, sales and delivery during the current financial year ending 31 March 2015 (FY 2015). In addition, it will hire close to 600 Bachelors and Masters graduates from US Universities over the next twelve months. With this program, Infosys will bolster its expertise in client relationship management, consulting and technical delivery. The addition of these employees will help Infosys provide its clients local market insights, industry-leading technology expertise, and timely responsiveness to critical issues. Infosys will recruit up to 300 management and technology graduates from leading US universities. They will work across multiple technology domains including digital, big data, analytics and cloud. Up to 180 graduates will be recruited into the Infosys consulting practice in the US. They will join existing teams advising clients on business and technology transformation strategies. Infosys will also continue its global recruitment program of hiring MBA graduates from leading business schools, and will recruit 100 Masters graduates for its sales teams under this initiative. This recruitment drive will leverage the wide range of relationships between Infosys and academic institutions across the US. These relationships have been cultivated through programs such as the global InStep Internship Program and the recently announced collaboration with the Institute for Computational & Mathematical Engineering at Stanford University, Infosys said in a statement. In a separate announcement on Thursday, 6 November 2014, Infosys announced a strategic engineering partnership with DreamWorks Animation. The two companies intend to work together to further develop DreamWorks' technologies to bring them to wider use. Infosys will deploy its global talent pool available across cloud, big data, Java and open source capabilities to develop next generation solutions based on the DreamWorks technology. CESC after market hours on Wednesday, 5 November 2014 said that at a meeting held on 5 November 2014, the QIP Committee of the board of directors of the company allotted 76.21 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 644 per share (inclusive of a premium of Rs 634) to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). Tata Global Beverages' consolidated net profit declined 65.31% to Rs 62.45 crore on 4.46% growth in total income to Rs 2053.61 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. The result was announced after market hours on Wednesday, 5 November 2014. During the quarter, Tata Global Beverages continued to focus on innovation and strengthening its brands across tea, coffee and water. Mr. Ajoy Misra, Managing Director and CEO of Tata Global Beverages, said, We will continue to focus on innovations based on strong consumer insight across tea, coffee and water. The last quarter has seen new launches and campaigns across geographies inspite of a challenging market environment. We are committed to growth through further strengthening our brands and strategic alliances. Escorts reported net loss of Rs 7.86 crore in Q2 September 2014 as against net profit of Rs 43.63 crore in Q2 September 2013. Net sales rose 4.96% to Rs 986.61 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. The company recorded an increase of 1.2% in tractor volumes to 15,013 tractors in Q2 September 2014 from 14,842 tractors in Q2 September 2013. Construction equipment volumes also increased 13% to 747 units in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. The company absorbed the additional one-time exceptional expense of Rs 31.4 crore on account of a VRS that covered around 350 employees. As a consequence, the company recorded a loss of Rs 7.90 crore in Q2 September 2014. Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) fell 48.06% to Rs 33.5 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. Escorts Agri Machinery volumes went up by 1.2% to 15,013 tractors in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. Revenues went up by 5.8% at Rs 803 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. Escorts Construction Equipment volume up by 13% with 747 units in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. Revenue increased by 4.6% to Rs 121.50 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. This increase is the result of growing product acceptability in the market. The company will continue to develop & offer innovative products and move up the value chain. Escorts Auto Product revenue up by 17% to Rs 26.8 crore in Q2 September 2014 as against Rs 22.90 crore in Q1 June 2014. Escorts Railway Products posted strong growth with sales increasing by 11% to Rs 47.30 crore in Q2 September 2014 as against Rs 42.70 crore in Q1 June 2014. Earnings Before Interest & Tax (EBIT) margin up by 580 bps to 9.6% against 3.8% sequentially. The order book position as on 1 October 2014 was Rs 34 crore. GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals' net profit rose 27.46% to Rs 128.67 crore on 17.48% increase in total income to Rs 782.46 crore in Q3 September 2014 over Q3 September 2013. Meanwhile, the board of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals has decided to change the financial year of the company from January - December to April - March. Accordingly the company's current financial year shall be for a period of fifteen months i.e. from 1 January 2014 to 31 March 2015. Further, the board of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals has appointed Andrew Aristidou as the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of the company from 1 December 2014. Mehernosh Kapadia, current Chief Financial Officer and Senior Executive Director, will retire from service on 30 November 2014 and will cease to be a director of the company from 1 December 2014. Financial Technologies (India) (FTIL) said it will fully exit Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) by selling its entire stake to a clutch of investors, including TVS Shriram Growth Fund, for Rs 576.84 crore. FTIL said it entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with TVS Shriram Growth Fund 1, S. Gopalkrishnan, Lakshmi Narayanan, Rajeev Gupta, Dalmia Cement Bharat Power Ventures Limited, Kiran Vyapar Limited, TVS Capital Funds Limited, and Agri Power and Engineering Solutions Private Limited for sale o All rights reserved (c) 2014 The Jerusalem Post Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |