Accenture CEO To Step Down

Forehand, 55, will retain the chairman's position.

A new chief executive will be named by mid-April, the company said. Its board has identified an internal candidate.

The Bermuda-based company, the former Andersen Consulting, didn't provide a specific reason for the leadership change. Forehand, who has been CEO since 1999, said, "I believe we are at a point in our growth to transition to my successor."

The announcement came as Accenture posted a 4 percent rise in profit for its latest quarter.

Net income came to $123.1 million, or 22 cents a share, for the second quarter ended Feb. 29. It earned $118.7 million, or 25 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

The latest quarter included a charge of 7 cents a share to cover the costs of consolidating office space.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were expecting the company to report earnings, excluding items, of 25 cents for the latest quarter.

Revenue excluding client expense reimbursements rose 17 percent to $3.30 billion from $2.83 billion a year earlier.

Accenture expects third-quarter revenue of $3.4 billion to $3.55 billion and said it is comfortable with the current analysts' earnings view of 30 cents a share.

For its fiscal year, the company expects earnings between $1.13 and $1.15 a share on revenue growth of about 11 percent to 14 percent from a year ago. Accenture had revenue of $11.82 billion for the year ended Aug. 31.

In Tuesday morning trading, shares of Accenture were at $24.54, up 49 cents, or 2 percent.

Before it can officially name Forehand's successor, the board must seek input from the firm's 2,300 partners.

Forehand helped steer Accenture through a downturn in the information-technology consulting market over the past few years, partly by expanding the firm's outsourcing business. But Forehand said the second-quarter results reflected a pickup in the consulting business.

"If you look at consulting opportunities, we're seeing more, newer and bigger projects that our clients are undertaking," Forehand said.

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