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Accenture Reports Third-Quarter Fiscal 2015 ResultsAccenture (NYSE:ACN) reported financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2015, ended May 31, 2015, with net revenues of $7.8 billion, an increase of 0.4 percent in U.S. dollars and 10 percent in local currency over the same period last year. Diluted earnings per share were $1.24, including a non-cash pension settlement charge of $64 million, pre-tax, or $0.06 per share. Excluding this charge, diluted earnings per share were $1.30, an increase of $0.04, or 3 percent, over the same period last year. The charge related to lump-sum payments made from the company's U.S. pension plan to former employees who elected to receive such payments. The payments settled the company's pension obligations to those who participated. Operating income for the quarter was $1.13 billion, including the $64 million pension settlement charge. Excluding the charge, operating income increased 2 percent, to $1.20 billion, and operating margin expanded 20 basis points, to 15.4 percent. New bookings for the quarter were $8.5 billion, with consulting bookings of $4.5 billion and outsourcing bookings of $4.0 billion. Pierre Nanterme, Accenture's chairman and CEO, said, "We are very pleased with our financial results for the third quarter. We delivered 10 percent revenue growth in local currency, which was broad-based across the business, and we gained significant market share. New bookings of $8.5 billion bring us to $25.5 billion for the first three quarters of the year, demonstrating the continued strong demand for our services. We generated solid free cash flow and returned $1.2 billion in cash to our shareholders, while investing significantly in our business. "We are clearly benefiting from our recent investments across the different dimensions of our business in digital services, where we grew more than 30 percent in local currency in the quarter. Looking ahead, we remain focused on further differentiating our capabilities and capturing new growth opportunities. We have excellent momentum in our business, and are well-positioned to continue driving profitable growth and delivering value to our clients and our shareholders." Financial Review Revenues before reimbursements ("net revenues") for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 were $7.77 billion, compared with $7.74 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2014, an increase of 0.4 percent in U.S. dollars and 10 percent in local currency. Net revenues for the quarter reflect a foreign-exchange impact of negative 10 percent, compared with the negative 11 percent we had previously assumed. Adjusting for the actual foreign-exchange impact of negative 10 percent in the quarter, the company's guided range for quarterly net revenues was $7.43 billion to $7.68 billion. Accenture's third quarter fiscal 2015 net revenues were approximately $90 million above this adjusted range.
Diluted EPS for the quarter were $1.24, compared with $1.26 for the third quarter last year. The pension settlement charge had a negative $0.06 impact on EPS in the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Excluding this charge, EPS for the quarter were $1.30, an increase of $0.04 from the third quarter last year. The $0.04 increase in EPS on an adjusted basis reflects:
partially offset by
Gross margin (gross profit as a percentage of net revenues) for the quarter was 32.5 percent, compared with 32.8 percent for the third quarter last year. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses for the quarter were $1.33 billion, or 17.1 percent of net revenues, compared with $1.36 billion, or 17.5 percent of net revenues, for the third quarter last year. Operating income for the quarter was $1.13 billion, or 14.6 percent of net revenues, compared with $1.18 billion, or 15.2 percent of net revenues, for the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Excluding the $64 million pension settlement charge, operating income for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 was $1.20 billion, or 15.4 percent of net revenues, a 20-basis-point expansion from the third quarter of fiscal 2014. The company's effective tax rate for the quarter was 24.9 percent, compared with 25.0 percent for the third quarter last year. Excluding the impact of the pension settlement charge, the effective tax rate for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 was 25.7 percent. Net income for the quarter was $850 million, compared with $882 million for the third quarter last year. Excluding the after-tax impact of the pension settlement charge, net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 was $889 million. Operating cash flow for the quarter was $1.41 billion, and property and equipment additions were $114 million. Free cash flow, defined as operating cash flow net of property and equipment additions, was $1.30 billion. For the same period last year, operating cash flow was $1.36 billion; property and equipment additions were $85 million; and free cash flow was $1.28 billion. Days services outstanding, or DSOs, were 37 days at May 31, 2015, compared with 36 days at Aug. 31, 2014 and 35 days at May 31, 2014. Accenture's total cash balance at May 31, 2015 was $4.0 billion, compared with $4.9 billion at Aug. 31, 2014. Utilization for the quarter was 90 percent, compared with 91 percent for the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Attrition for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 was 15 percent, compared with 14 percent for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 and 14 percent for the third quarter of fiscal 2014. New Bookings New bookings for the third quarter were $8.5 billion and reflect a negative 10 percent foreign-currency impact compared with new bookings in the third quarter last year.
Net Revenues by Operating Group Net revenues by operating group were as follows:
Net Revenues by Geographic Region* Net revenues by geographic region* for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 were as follows:
*Beginning in fiscal 2015, the company is reporting its geographic regions as follows: North America (the United States and Canada); Europe; and Growth Markets (Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Russia and Turkey). Previously, the company's three geographic regions were the Americas; EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa); and Asia Pacific. Returning Cash to Shareholders Accenture continues to return cash to shareholders through cash dividends and share repurchases. Dividend On May 15, 2015, a semi-annual cash dividend of $1.02 per share was paid on Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 10, 2015, and on Accenture SCA Class I common shares to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 7, 2015. Combined with the semi-annual cash dividend of $1.02 per share paid on Nov. 17, 2014, this brings the total dividend payments for the fiscal year to $2.04 per share, for total cash dividend payments of approximately $1.35 billion. Share Repurchase Activity During the third quarter of fiscal 2015, Accenture repurchased or redeemed 5.6 million shares for a total of $518 million, including approximately 4.8 million shares repurchased in the open market. Accenture's total remaining share repurchase authority at May 31, 2015 was approximately $3.2 billion. At May 31, 2015, Accenture had approximately 660 million total shares outstanding, including 624 million Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares and 36 million Accenture SCA Class I common shares and Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares. Business Outlook Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2015 Accenture expects net revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 to be in the range of $7.45 billion to $7.70 billion. This range assumes a foreign-exchange impact of negative 10 percent compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. Full Fiscal Year 2015 Accenture's business outlook for the full 2015 fiscal year now assumes a foreign-exchange impact of negative 7.5 percent compared with fiscal 2014; the previous foreign-exchange assumption was negative 8 percent. For fiscal 2015, the company now expects net revenue growth in local currency to be in the range of 9 percent to 10 percent, compared with 8 percent to 10 percent previously. Accenture now expects diluted GAAP EPS to be in the range of $4.67 to $4.72, including the pension settlement charge, compared with $4.61 to $4.71 previously. Excluding the pension settlement charge of $0.06 per share in the third quarter, the company now expects adjusted EPS to be in the range of $4.73 to $4.78, compared with $4.66 to $4.76 previously. Accenture continues to expect GAAP operating margin for the full fiscal year to be in the range of 14.2 percent to 14.4 percent. Excluding the pension settlement charge, the company continues to expect operating margin for the full fiscal year to be in the range of 14.4 percent to 14.6 percent, an expansion of 10 to 30 basis points from fiscal 2014. The company now expects operating cash flow for fiscal 2015 to be in the range of $3.8 billion to $4.1 billion, compared with $3.85 billion to $4.15 billion previously; now expects property and equipment additions to be $400 million, compared with $450 million previously; and continues to expect free cash flow to be in the range of $3.4 billion to $3.7 billion. The company continues to expect to return at least $3.8 billion to its shareholders in fiscal 2015 through dividends and share repurchases. The company continues to expect its annual effective tax rate to be in the range of 26.0 percent to 27.0 percent. Accenture continues to target new bookings for fiscal 2015 in the range of $33 billion to $35 billion. Conference Call and Webcast Details Accenture will host a conference call at 8:00 a.m. EDT today to discuss its third-quarter financial results. To participate, please dial +1 (800) 230-1074 [+1 (612) 234-9960 outside the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada] approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the call. The conference call will also be accessible live on the Investor Relations section of the Accenture Web site at www.accenture.com. A replay of the conference call will be available online at www.accenture.com beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT today, Thursday, June 25, and continuing until Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015. A podcast of the conference call will be available online at www.accenture.com beginning approximately 24 hours after the call and continuing until Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015. The replay will also be available via telephone by dialing +1 (800) 475-6701 [+1 (320) 365-3844 outside the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada] and entering access code 360639 from 10:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, June 25 through Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015. About Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 336,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com. Non-GAAP Financial Information This news release includes certain non-GAAP financial information as defined by Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation G. Pursuant to the requirements of this regulation, reconciliations of this non-GAAP financial information to Accenture's financial statements as prepared under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are included in this press release. Financial results "in local currency" are calculated by restating current-period activity into U.S. dollars using the comparable prior-year period's foreign-currency exchange rates. Accenture's management believes providing investors with this information gives additional insights into Accenture's results of operations. While Accenture's management believes that the non-GAAP financial measures herein are useful in evaluating Accenture's operations, this information should be considered as supplemental in nature and not as a substitute for the related financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "positioned," "outlook" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the company's results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company's clients' businesses and levels of business activity; the company's business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company's services and solutions, and a significant reduction in such demand could materially affect the company's results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company's business, the utilization rate of the company's professionals and the company's results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the company's reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data or information systems as obligated by law or contract or if the company's information systems are breached; the company's results of operations and ability to grow could be materially negatively affected if the company cannot adapt and expand its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings by new entrants; the company's results of operations could materially suffer if the company is not able to obtain sufficient pricing to enable it to meet its profitability expectations; if the company does not accurately anticipate the cost, risk and complexity of performing its work or if the third parties upon whom it relies do not meet their commitments, then the company's contracts could have delivery inefficiencies and be less profitable than expected or unprofitable; the company's results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company's profitability could suffer if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful, and the company may not be able to improve its profitability through improvements to cost-management to the degree it has done in the past; the company's business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; the company's work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; the company might not be successful at identifying, acquiring or integrating businesses or entering into joint ventures; the company's Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; changes in the company's level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in the company's treatment as an Irish company, could have a material adverse effect on the company's results of operations and financial condition; as a result of the company's geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; adverse changes to the company's relationships with key alliance partners or in the business of its key alliance partners could adversely affect the company's results of operations; the company's services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if the company is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; the company's ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; many of the company's contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company's revenues and impact its margins; if the company is unable to collect its receivables or unbilled services, the company's results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected; if the company is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; the company's share price and results of operations could fluctuate and be difficult to predict; the company's results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that the company makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; the company may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture plc's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture's expectations.
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