Accenture Plc (NYSE: ACN) stock rose over 5.2% on March 28th, 2019 after the company posted better than expected results for the second quarter of FY 19 and raised its full-year profit forecast as it continues to benefit from investments in digital and cloud services. New bookings for the quarter were $11.8 billion, with consulting bookings of $6.7 billion and outsourcing bookings of $5.1 billion. Net income for the quarter was $1.14 billion, compared with $920 million for the second quarter last year. Accenture’s total cash balance at Feb. 28, 2019 was $4.5 billion, compared with $5.1 billion at Aug. 31, 2018.
ACN in the second quarter of FY 19 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $1.73, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $1.57, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 5.5 percent to $10.45 billion in the second quarter of FY 19, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $10.30 billion. Consulting revenues for the quarter were $5.79 billion, an increase of 6 percent in U.S. dollars and 9 percent in local currency compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2018. Outsourcing revenues were $4.67 billion, an increase of 5 percent in U.S. dollars and 9 percent in local currency compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2018.
ACN has declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $1.46 per share for shareholders. During the second quarter of fiscal 2019, Accenture repurchased or redeemed 6.7 million shares, including 4.6 million shares repurchased in the open market, for a total of $1.01 billion
Accenture expects revenues for the third quarter of FY 19 to be in the range of $10.80 billion to $11.10 billion.
ACN has raised its full-year earnings per share forecast range to $7.18 to $7.32, from $7.01 to $7.25. The company now expects revenue growth to be in the range of 6.5 percent to 8.5 percent in local currency, compared with 6 percent to 8 percent previously
Accenture, which has spent billions of dollars over the recent years on acquisitions to strengthen its business, still expects to spend up to $1.5 billion on deals during FY19. It has already made at least three small acquisitions this year.
Meanwhile, Accenture, which is looking for a new chief executive officer after Pierre Nanterme stepped down due to health reasons in early January, said it expects to name an internal candidate as the new chief by the end of this fiscal year.