During the three months ended November 30, 2002, Hamilton, Bermuda-based Accenture made net revenue of $2.93bn, down 2% from revenue of $2.99bn in 2001. Net profit meanwhile grew rapidly during the period, up 55% to $126.8m as a result of cost-cutting measures. The company’s cash position also grew during the quarter to $1.5bn, up $157m from the fourth quarter of 2002.
Business was particularly affected by a slump in demand within the financial services and products sectors of Accenture’s business, which saw revenue decline 7% and 9% respectively, to $602m and $650m. However, this was partly offset by healthy demand within the communications and high-tech practices, which grew revenue 12% and 7% respectively to $830m and $359m. Geographically, sales in the EMEA region remained flat during the period at $1.3bn, however the largest region, the Americas, saw revenue drop 3% to $1.39bn region and Asia Pacific fell 6% to $207m.
Commenting on the outlook for consulting and related IT services in 2003, CEO Joe Forehand said: We continue to be cautious…because the economic and geopolitical climate remains unstable. Despite this, the company said it expects earnings for the second quarter to be between $0.21 and $0.25 per share, although this will be down sequentially from $0.27 per share in the first, and revenue is expected to fall between 1% and 6% from the same period in 2001.
Despite the continuing revenue decline into the second quarter, Accenture is optimistic that revenue in full year 2003 will be either flat or grow as much as 2% during the year, with earnings per share of $1.05.
Source: Computerwire
