Accenture Rallies 8%+ On Post-Market Earnings (ACN)

Accenture ACN reported strong financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2011, ended Feb. 28, 2011, with net revenues of $6.05 billion, an increase of 17 percent in U.S. dollars and 18 percent in local currency over the same period last year and exceeding the company's guided range of $5.6 billion to $5.8 billion. Diluted earnings per share were $0.75, an increase of $0.15, or 25 percent, over the same period last year. Operating income was $772 million, an increase of 19 percent over the same period last year, and operating margin was 12.7 percent. New bookings for the quarter were $6.98 billion, with consulting bookings of $3.80 billion and outsourcing bookings of $3.18 billion. In addition, Accenture's Board of Directors has declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $0.45 per share, to be paid on May 13, 2011. Pierre Nanterme, Accenture's chief executive officer, said, “We are very pleased with the continued momentum in our business, which enabled us to achieve strong results in the second quarter. We saw very strong revenue growth in both U.S. dollars and local currency across our operating groups and geographic regions. We also achieved significant EPS growth of 25 percent, and we continue to maintain an exceptionally strong balance sheet. “With quarterly bookings of $7 billion, including our second-highest consulting bookings ever, demand for our services remains strong, and our growth trajectory demonstrates that we continue to execute our business strategy extremely well. We remain focused on growing market share and, as always, on delivering value to our clients as well as our shareholders.” Financial Review Revenues before reimbursements (“net revenues”) for the second quarter of fiscal 2011 were $6.05 billion, compared with $5.18 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2010, an increase of 17 percent in U.S. dollars and 18 percent in local currency. Net revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2011 exceeded the company's guided range of $5.6 billion to $5.8 billion, which assumed a foreign-exchange impact of negative 2 percent. Adjusting for the actual foreign-exchange impact of negative 1 percent in the second quarter, the Company's guided range for quarterly net revenues would have been $5.65 billion to $5.85 billion. Net revenues of $6.05 billion for the quarter also exceeded this adjusted range.