In a statement, CEO and chairman Joe Forehand said: We are encouraged by signs of economic recovery in many parts of the world. We are seeing good business opportunities and are pleased with our strong new bookings particularly in outsourcing.
For the three months ended November 30, Hamilton, Bermuda-based Accenture reported a strong increase in profit, with net earnings up 37% at $174.3m on net revenue that increased 11% to $3.26bn, up 4% in local currency.
Cash and cash equivalents remained more or less flat at $2.33bn. IT and management consulting, which makes up 64% of Accenture’s business, began to show signs of stabilization with revenue down 1% at $2.1bn, compared to flat growth in the previous quarter. Outsourcing revenue soared 45% to $1.17bn.
Despite this, Accenture issued a weak second-quarter outlook of revenue between $3.1bn and $3.25bn and earnings of between $0.21 and $0.27 per share. This was due to three contracts that had lower-than-expected margins, and the company said these could affect its ability to meet revenue and profit projections for 2004. Accenture said it would also take a second quarter charge of between $75m and $100m relating to the closure of office space and asset disposals.
Forehand pointed out that Accenture had $5.05bn worth of new bookings in the first quarter, its third highest quarter ever, of which outsourcing accounts for $2.98bn and consulting $2.07bn. This was largely due to two major new projects Accenture won during the quarter with the UK Government’s National Health Service, including a 1.099bn pounds ($1.97bn) contract with the NHS to provide IT services to hospitals in the North East of England, and a 934m pound ($1.68bn) contract with the NHS in eastern England.
This article is based on material originally published by ComputerWire
