Post-Earnings Analysis - Accenture

LONDON, January 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Investor-Edge.com has issued free post-earnings analysis on Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN). On December 18, 2014, the company reported its Q1 FY15 results (period ended November 30, 2014). Click on http://www.investor-edge.com/FreeReports to read our free earnings review on Accenture PLC (Accenture). During the reported quarter, the company's net revenues in U.S. dollars increased 7% Y-o-Y. Furthermore, Accenture's operating income and diluted EPS for Q1 FY15 increased by 9% Y-o-Y and 12% Y-o-Y, respectively. Chairman and CEO, Pierre Nanterme stated that the company has delivered an excellent Q1 FY15 result and expressed satisfaction at the Company's 10% local-currency revenue growth, including strong growth in both consulting and outsourcing, as well as double-digit growth in four of the company's five operating groups. Our free coverage report can be accessed at:

http://www.investor-edge.com/register

Earnings Overview 

During Q1 FY15, Accenture reported record net revenue of $7.90 billion, compared to $7.36 billion in Q1 FY14. The reported period's net revenue outperformed Bloomberg analysts' expectations of $7.69 billion. Accenture's Q1 FY15 consulting net revenues improved 4% Y-o-Y in U.S. dollars and 7% Y-o-Y in local currency to $4.09 billion. Meanwhile, outsourcing net revenues for Q1 FY15 stood at $3.80 billion, reflecting an increase of 11% Y-o-Y in U.S. dollars and 14% Y-o-Y in local currency. The free research on ACN can be downloaded as in PDF format at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Accenture&d=12-Jan-2015&s=ACN

Accenture recorded gross margin of 32.2% for Q1 FY15, compared with 33.3% in Q1 FY14. The company's operating income for the reported quarter improved

Data repetition

to $1.19 billion, or 15.0% of net revenues, compared with $1.09 billion, or 14.8% of net revenues, in Q1 FY14. For Q1 FY15, net income attributable to Accenture increased to $831.53 million from $751.85 million in Q1 FY14. The company's diluted EPS for the reported quarter was $1.29, compared with $1.15 in Q1 FY14. The Bloomberg analysts' had expected net income attributable to Accenture of $779.40 million and diluted EPS of $1.19 in Q1 FY15. The company's new bookings stood at $7.7 billion, reflecting a 3% negative foreign-exchange impact, compared with Q1 FY14.

Mr. Nanterme said that the company has expanded its operating margin by 20 basis points, delivered an outstanding 12% increase in EPS while returning $1.3 billion in cash to its shareholders. He asserted that Accenture is well-positioned to continue gaining market share and driving profitable growth. Sign up and read the free analyst's notes on ACN at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Accenture&d=12-Jan-2015&s=ACN

During Q1 FY15, Accenture repurchased 8.4 million shares for a total of $670 million, including approximately 7.1 million shares repurchased in the open market. The company's total remaining share repurchase authority at November 30, 2014 was approximately $4.1 billion.

In its outlook for Q2 FY15, Accenture's expects net revenues to be in the range of $7.25 billion to $7.50 billion. The company's guidance assumes a foreign-exchange impact of negative 5%, compared with Q1 FY14. Further, for FY15 the company has raised its guidance for net revenue growth range in local currency to 5% to 8% and now expects the diluted EPS to be in the range of $4.66 to $4.80. Accenture continues to expect operating margin for FY15 to be in the range of 14.4% to 14.6%.

Stock Performance  

On the day of earnings release, December 18, 2014, Accenture's stock rallied 5.21%, to end the session at $89.74. Since then, the stock has witnessed mixed momentum. On the last close, Friday, January 09, 2015, the company's shares finished 0.11% lower at $89.78. The company's shares vacillated between $89.38 and $90.15 during the session. A total of 2.40 million shares were traded, which was below its three months average volume of 2.78 million shares. Over the last one month and previous three months, Accenture's shares have surged 7.03% and 16.84%, respectively. Further, the stock has gained 7.91% over the past one year. Shares in the company closed above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $85.66 and $81.36, respectively. Furthermore, the stock traded at a PE ratio of 19.23 and has a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 59.78. Visit Investor-Edge and access the latest research on ACN at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Accenture&d=12-Jan-2015&s=ACN

Sneak Peek to Corporate Insider Trading  

In the last one month, there were 37 insider transactions made by 12 individuals. Between December 22, 2014 and January 06, 2015, a total of 19,314 shares of the company were bought at an average price of $87.75 per share, for a total value of $1.69 million. During the stated period, a total of 102,531 shares were also disposed at an average price of $89.77 per share, for a total of $9.20 million. During the aforesaid period, Pierre Nanterme disposed 56,554 shares at an average price of $90.38 per share. Ellyn J. Shook, Chief Human Resources Officer at Accenture, bought 1,503 shares at a price of $87.75 and sold 10,012 shares at an average price of $87.95 per share. Additionally, Richard Lumb, Group Chief Executive-Financial Services at Accenture, purchased 3,203 shares at price of $87.75 and sold 9,068 shares at an average price of $90.21 per share. Complimentary in-depth research on ACN is available at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Accenture&d=12-Jan-2015&s=ACN

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