VAR500: Companies Rack Up Impressive Quarterly Sales Growth

It's earnings season, and for these five members of the VAR500, sales are on the uptick. Four of the five had double-digit growth, reflecting a possible boost in economic confidence by IT customers.

Cognizant Revenue Soars

Cognizant's revenue for the second quarter of 2010 rose to $1.105 billion, an increase of 42 percent from $776.6 million in the second quarter of 2009. "Second quarter results further substantiate the strength of the Cognizant model and the continued importance of investing in deep industry expertise, expanded geographic reach and emerging technologies," said Francisco D'Souza, (left), president and CEO of Cognizant (2010 VAR500 rank: 35). "During the quarter, spending levels were very strong across clients in all our business segments and geographies. Our clients are investing again in discretionary programs to foster growth and innovation. We saw particular strength in our financial services segment, which had previously been hard hit by the global credit crisis."

A major contributor to the growth was a 22 percent increase in application development revenue, which grew 22 percent sequentially and 52 percent on the year.

Sapient Service Revenue Jumps

Service revenue at Sapient (2010 VAR500 rank: 94) rose 36 percent in the second quarter of 2010, to $200.4 million, compared with $147.5 million in the second quarter of 2009. Service revenue increased $17.2 million, or 9 percent, from $183.2 million in the first quarter of 2010.

’We’re pleased with our strong results this quarter, particularly our continuing improvement in operating margins,’ said Sapient President and Chief Executive Officer Alan J. Herrick (left). ’Our clients continue to recognize Sapient’s unique offerings, resulting in strong demand across all segments of our business.’

Overall, the company's revenue rose 37 percent to $210.7 million. Reimbursable expenses rose nearly 71 percent to $10.4 million, while operating expenses also rose 36 percent to $197.8 million, mainly due to higher project personnel costs and administrative expenses.

Ciber Revenue Sees Small Gain

Ciber reported revenue of $265.4 million, up two percent from the second quarter of 2009, and up one percent sequentially from the first quarter of 2010. Second quarter net loss was $80.8 million. Net income excluding the impairment and executive change charges was $4.1 million compared with $4.7 million for the same period of 2009.

Revenue growth at Ciber (2010 VAR500 rank: 64) was the strongest in the past six quarters. The company CFO Peter Cheesbrough said the company would continue to focus on gaining operating efficiencies by removing redundant costs in our current model: "We have begun moving CIBER towards a more efficient shared-service model and to make improvements, particularly in the U.S, to our sales, delivery and overhead infrastructures.’

President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Peterschmidt (left), who joined CIBER on July 1 said, his initial focus would be the development of a comprehensive strategic plan that sharpens CIBER’s focus on critical markets and services as well as improving profitability and cash flow.

ePlus Sales Take Off

ePlus revenue for the first quarter of 2011 came in at $189 million, soaring $36.6 million or 24 percent, compared with $152.4 million in the fiscal first quarter of 2010.

"We achieved our fifth consecutive quarter of revenue and earnings growth in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011. We remain cautiously optimistic about spending trends in many categories, and we will continue to service existing customers, and gain new customers, by offering a full range of technology services to meet their needs," said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Phillip G. Norton (pictured). "With a strong balance sheet and solid cash reserves, we are well positioned to continue to drive positive results."

Sales of product and services at ePlus (2010 VAR500 rank:86) totaled $175.9 million, up $35.4 million or 25.2 percent compared with $140.5 million in the first quarter of 2010. Revenue from the combination of sales of leased equipment, lease revenue, and fee and other income totaled $13.1 million up from the same quarter of 2010. Lease revenue totaled $10.1 million, an increase of $2.1 million compared with the same quarter last year. ---

Insight Enterprises Revs Up Revenue

North American sales at Insight (2010 VAR500 rank: 28) for the second quarter of 2010 were $865.5 million for the second quarter of 2010, up 21 percent from the second quarter of 2009. Net revenue of hardware and software increased 27 percent and 21 percent, respectively, year over year, while net sales in the services category declined 15 percent year to year.

’I’m happy to report that continued strengthening of IT demand globally coupled with operating leverage led to strong year to year growth in both sales and profitability in our business,’ said President and Chief Executive Officer Ken Lamneck (left).

The solution provider's EMEA operating segment reported net sales of $359.2 million for the second quarter of 2010, up 28 percent in U.S. dollars compared to the second quarter of 2009, while its APAC operating segment reported net sales of $52.9 million for the second quarter of 2010, up 25 percent from the second quarter of 2009 in U.S. dollars.