Accenture Q1 Results Beat Estimates; Lifts Low End Of FY Outlook Range

(RTTNews) - Accenture Plc (ACN) on Thursday reported net income for the first quarter of $1.38 billion, a 6 percent increase from $1.29 billion in the same period last year. Earnings per share for the quarter rose to $2.09 from $1.96 in the prior-year period.

Revenues for the quarter grew 7 percent to $11.36 billion from $10.61 billion for the year-ago period and also increased 9 percent in local currency,

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.99 per share for the quarter on revenues of $11.14 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

New bookings for the quarter were $10.3 billion, with consulting bookings of $6.0 billion and outsourcing bookings of $4.3 billion.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, Accenture expects revenues in a range of $10.85 billion to $11.15 billion, representing growth of 5 percent to 8 percent in local currency and reflecting the company's assumption of a negative 1 percent foreign-exchange impact compared with the prior-year period.

The Street expects revenues of $11.09 billion for the quarter.

For fiscal 2020, Accenture now expects revenue growth in a range of 6 percent to 8 percent in local currency, compared with 5 percent to 8 percent previously. The company now expects earnings per share in a range of $7.66 to $7.84, compared with $7.62 to $7.84 previously.

Analysts expect earnings of $7.82 per share for the year on revenues of $45.92 billion.

As previously disclosed, Accenture has moved from a semi-annual to a quarterly schedule for dividend payments in fiscal 2020. On November 15, 2019, the company paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.80 per share to shareholders of record at the close of business on Oct. 17, 2019.

Accenture plc has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.80 per share for shareholders of record at the close of business on Jan. 16, 2020. This dividend is payable on February 14, 2020.