Accenture Q4 net income increased to $1.07 billion
Staff Writer |
Accenture reported that its net income attributable to the company for the fourth quarter ended August 31, 2016 increased to $1.07 billion, from last year's $737.63 million.
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Earnings per share improving to $1.68 from with $1.15 for the fourth quarter last year.
Excluding the $249 million after-tax impact of the gains on the sale of businesses, net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 was $881 million, a 12 percent increase from the fourth quarter last year.
Excluding gains on the sale of businesses of $295 million, pre-tax, or $0.37 per share, earnings per share for the quarter were $1.31, an increase of $0.16, or 14 percent, from the fourth quarter last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.30 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
The $0.16 increase in earnings per share on an adjusted basis reflects $0.11 increase from higher revenue and operating results; $0.05 increase from a lower effective tax rate; and a $0.02 increase from a lower share count; and partially offset by a $0.02 decrease from higher non-operating expense.
New bookings for the fourth quarter were $9.0 billion and reflect a negative 2 percent foreign-exchange impact compared with new bookings in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015.
Revenues before reimbursements for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 were $8.49 billion, compared with $7.89 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, an increase of 8 percent in U.S. dollars and 9 percent in local currency. Wall Street expected revenues of $8.43 billion for the quarter.
Net revenues for the quarter reflected a foreign-exchange impact of negative 1.5 percent, compared with the negative 1 percent we had previously assumed. Adjusting for the actual foreign-exchange impact of negative 1.5 percent in the quarter, the company's guided range for quarterly net revenues was approximately $8.20 billion to $8.45 billion. Accenture's fourth quarter fiscal 2016 net revenues were approximately $40 million above this adjusted range.
Consulting net revenues were $4.61 billion, an increase of 11 percent in U.S. dollars and 13 percent in local currency compared
with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015.
Outsourcing net revenues were $3.88 billion, an increase of 4 percent in U.S. dollars and 6 percent in local currency compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015.
Accenture has declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $1.21 per share on Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares for shareholders of record at the close of business on October 21, 2016, and Accenture Holdings plc will declare a semi-annual cash dividend of $1.21 per share on Accenture Holdings ordinary shares for shareholders of record at the close of business on October 18, 2016.
Both dividends are payable on November 15, 2016. This represents an increase of $0.11 per share, or 10 percent, over the company's previous semi-annual dividend, declared in March.
Accenture expects net revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 to be in the range of $8.40 billion to $8.65 billion, 5 percent to 8 percent growth in local currency, reflecting the company's assumption of a flat foreign-exchange impact compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2016. Wall Street expect revenues of $8.59 billion for the first-quarter.
Accenture's business outlook for the full 2017 fiscal year assumes that the foreign-exchange impact on its results in U.S. dollars will be flat compared with fiscal 2016.
For fiscal 2017, the company expects net revenue growth to be in the range of 5 percent to 8 percent in local currency. The company expects GAAP earnings per share to be in the range of $5.75 to $5.98. Analysts expect annual earnings of $5.83 per share.
For fiscal 2017, the company expects operating cash flow to be in the range of $4.6 billion to $4.9 billion; property and equipment additions to be $600 million; and free cash flow to be in the range of $4.0 billion to $4.3 billion. ■