Accenture Gains as Sales Forecast Beats Analysts’ Estimates
March 25, 2011, 4:23 PM EDTBy Alex Sherman and Katie Hoffmann
(Updates share price in ninth paragraph.)
March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Accenture Plc, the world’s second- largest technology-consulting company, rose the most in three months in New York trading after its sales forecast for this quarter exceeded analysts’ estimates.
Net revenue, or sales before reimbursements, will grow to a range of $6.3 billion to $6.5 billion for the fiscal third quarter ending in May, Dublin-based Accenture said yesterday. Analysts predicted $6.08 billion, the average of 14 projections compiled by Bloomberg.
Revenue on that basis climbed 17 percent to $6.05 billion last quarter, led by the consulting business. The division, accounting for more than half of Accenture’s sales, is getting a boost as businesses resume work on discretionary products and information-technology expansion, said Joseph Vafi, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in San Francisco.
“The numbers are pretty strong across the board,” said Vafi, who rates the shares “buy” and doesn’t own them. “Accenture’s so big, they’re really a macro-play on IT demand.”
The company also increased forecasts for full-year net revenue growth to a range of 11 percent to 14 percent, from 8 percent to 11 percent, and for earnings per share to $3.22 to $3.30, from $3.08 to $3.16.
Fiscal second-quarter net income rose 26 percent to $503 million, or 75 cents a share, from $399.8 million, or 60 cents, a year earlier. Analysts predicted 71 cents, the average of 15 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
Consulting net revenue in the second quarter was $3.51 billion, an increase of 20 percent from a year earlier.
“We are gaining market share, which is extremely important to us,” said Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s chief executive officer, in a conference call.
Accenture, which trails International Business Machines Corp. in technology consulting, rose $2.33, or 4.5 percent, to $54.29 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the largest gain since Dec. 17. The shares have added 7.2 percent this year.
--Editors: John Lear, Donna Alvarado
To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net; Katie Hoffmann in New York at khoffmann4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net
