Accenture Plc (NYSE: ACN) stock lost over 7.04% on 24th September, 2020 (Source: Google finance) after the company delivered lower than expected results for the fourth quarter of FY 20. The company reported the net income for the quarter to Aug. 31 rose of $1.29 billion compared to $1.13 billion, in the year-ago period. New bookings increased 8% to $14.0 billion that includes the consulting new bookings of $6.5 billion and outsourcing new bookings of $7.5 billion. The company generated operating cash flow for the fourth quarter of $3.16 billion, and property and equipment additions of $189 million. The company generated free cash flow of $2.97 billion. For the same period of fiscal 2019, operating cash flow generated was $2.12 billion, property and equipment additions were $241 million, and free cash flow generated was $1.87 billion.
ACN in the fourth quarter of FY 20 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $1.70, missing the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $1.73, according to the FactSet consensus. The company had reported 2 percent fall in the adjusted revenue to $10.84 billion in the fourth quarter of FY 20, missing the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $10.93 billion. The revenue fell due to a fall in revenue from reimbursable travel costs and the negative effects of foreign currency translation. Consulting revenues were fell 8% in both U.S. dollars and local currency to $5.68 billion compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, including a reduction of about 3 percentage points from a decline in revenues from reimbursable travel costs. Outsourcing revenues rose 6% in U.S. dollars and 7% percent in local currency to $5.15 billion compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019.
Moreover, for the fourth quarter, the revenue from North America declined 1% in U.S. dollars and flat in local currency to $5.20 billion compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019. The revenue from Europe declined 5% in both U.S. dollars and local currency to $3.41 billion compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019. The revenue from Growth Markets declined 1% in U.S. dollars and an increase of 3% in local currency to $2.23 billion compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019.
For 2021, Accenture expects EPS of $7.80 to $8.10, while the FactSet EPS consensus is $8.13.
The company projects the current-quarter revenue to be in the range of $11.15 billion and $11.55 billion, compared with Wall Street estimates of $11.52 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.