Accenture Posts Strong Q1 Earnings

Accenture reported a first quarter revenue of $7.1 billion, an increase of 17 percent from the same period last year. Net income for the quarter was also up, coming in at $712 million, a significant 18 percent increase from $606 million for the first quarter last year.

Of Accenture's five groups, Communications, Media & Technology saw revenue jump 20 percent to $1.5 billion, compared with $1.3 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2011.

Financial Services also saw revenue grow to $1.5 billion, up 14 percent from last year.

Health & Public Service grew 13 percent to $1.1 billion; Products rose to $1.7 billion, up 20 percent, and Resources increased 18 percent to $1.3 billion, compared with $1.1 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2011.

The IT solution provider said new bookings for the quarter were $7.8 billion, with consulting bookings of $4.2 billion and outsourcing bookings of $3.6 billion. Accenture will target new bookings for fiscal 2012 in the range of $28 billion to $31 billion.

Despite the good first quarter news, the solution provider expects net revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 to be lower, in the $6.5 billion to $6.8 billion range. Still, it's a 7 to 11 percent increase compared with the second quarter of 2011. The figure assumes a foreign-exchange impact of negative 1 percent compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2011. It partly reflects concern about Europe's debt crisis and the potential impact it may have on Accenture's customers abroad.