Accenture, the world's largest management and technology consulting company, posted a 52 percent surge in profit for its latest quarter but said profits in its current quarter could fall below estimates.
Shares of Accenture dropped on the news, trading at $22.99, down $3.59, or 14 percent, Wednesday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company, which is incorporated in Bermuda, said Wednesday it had net income of $183 million, or 30 cents a share, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, compared with $120.5 million, or 25 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
In July, the company had forecast fourth-quarter profit of 26 cents to 29 cents a share.
The latest results beat the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call for earnings, excluding items, of 28 cents a share.
Revenue for the latest period rose 10 percent to $3.81 billion from $3.46 billion a year ago.
Net revenue, excluding reimbursement of expenses, rose 13 percent to $3.42 billion from $3.02 billion.
Net revenue from consulting rose 12 percent to $2.14 billion. Outsourcing generated net revenue of $1.28 billion, up 17 percent.
For the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, net income soared 39 percent to $690.8 million, or $1.22 a share, compared with $498.2 million, or $1.05 a share, a year earlier.
Full-year net revenue increased 16 percent to $13.67 billion from $11.82 billion.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2005, Accenture expects to report earnings of 28 cents to 31 cents a share, and net revenue of $3.5 billion to $3.7 billion. First Call's average analyst estimates is for 32 cents per share.
A year earlier, Accenture reported first-quarter net income of $174.3 million, or 33 cents a share, on net revenue of $3.26 billion.
For all of fiscal 2005, Accenture expects net revenue to rise 9 percent to 12 percent, with reported earnings pegged at $1.34 to $1.39 a share. Analysts are looking for earnings of $1.39 per share on revenue of $15.36 billion.
Accenture also said it will buy back an additional $3 billion of its stock. The company had 986.2 million shares on average for the quarter ended Aug. 31.
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