New York, May 28: Two US-listed Indian outsourcing
firms -- Cognizant Technology and Exlservice -- have made it
to a list of the world's 100 "Hot Growth" companies with
significant growth potential.
The two Indian firms are among 10 software and services
firms that have appeared in the list of companies from around
the world.
Cognizant, which is headquartered in the US and having
most of its operations and 75 per cent of workforce in India,
has been ranked at 15th position, while Exlservice is at 57th
rank.
The annual list, published in the latest issue of
Businessweek hitting the news stands today, is led by Heelys
Inc, a maker of wheeled sneakers used by kids for skating.
The magazine used Standard and Poor's database of 10,000
public companies with revenues of USD 50 million to USD 1.5
billion a year and the rankings are based on three
year sales and earnings growth as well as return on capital.
Only those companies with a market cap of USD 25 million
or more and a stock price of at least five dollars
were considered, the magazine said, adding that "profit or
stock price shortfalls, or news that put prospects in doubt,
may knock a company off the list."
According to the US-based magazine, Cognizant that is the
fifth-largest Indian infotech outsourcing firm has
consistently racked up better growth rates than its larger
rivals with more than 43,000 employees.
In the first quarter this year, the company's turnover
rose by 61 per cent to 460 million dollars.
"It has outperformed its peers because it has deftly
targeted a handful of industry segments where demand for
offshore outsourcing is strongest, including financial
services, health care, and pharmaceuticals," the magazine
said.
Amid concerns over wage inflation and rupee appreciation,
which are making Indian labour more expensive, Cognizant is
trying to modestly restrain its hiring activities noted.
The company's newly promoted CEO Francisco D'Souza had
planned hiring more than 17,000 people this year but reduced
that number by 1,000, it said.
Another Indian entity in the list, Exlservice, which
listed in the US last year, has a total headcount of close to
8,200 employees and reported 85 per cent jump in its first
quarter revenue to close to USD 40 million.
The company was founded in 1999 and is already providing
a vast range of business process outsourcing solutions like
transaction-processing services and internet and voice-based
customer care services to global 1000 companies in banking,
financial services and insurance segment.
Exlservice has a market cap of close to USD 540 million
, while that of Cognizant currently stands at about USD 11
billion.
Businessweek noted that cognizant has been on the list
for six years running and seven times since the list was
launched in 1985.
The IT services firm faces stiff competition from bigger
competitors like Wipro and Infosys, but it continues to offer
"better, faster, cheaper" services than other it outfits, it
said. "And being better and faster than the next guy is what
hot growth is all about."
Bureau Report