Accenture Confirms Business Outlook for Third Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2004
NEW YORK; April 16, 2004 - Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today said that preliminary information available to management for March, the first month of its third fiscal quarter, reinforces the trend of increasing demand for Accenture’s services, providing further support for the third-quarter and fiscal-year 2004 guidance that Accenture provided on March 30.
For the third quarter of fiscal 2004, Accenture continues to expect revenues before reimbursements (“net revenues”) to be in the range of $3.40 billion to $3.55 billion and diluted earnings per share to be $0.30 on a GAAP basis.
For the full fiscal year 2004, Accenture continues to expect net revenue growth, including any future impact of EITF 00-21, to be in the range of 11 percent to 14 percent and GAAP earnings per share to be between $1.13 and $1.15. The Company anticipates that this earnings-per-share range will allow it to accrue between $100 million and $200 million of variable compensation for the full fiscal year.
Also for the full fiscal year 2004, Accenture continues to expect operating cash flow to be in the range of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion; property and equipment additions to be in the range of $300 million to $350 million; and free cash flow to be in the range of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion. The Company continues to target new bookings for fiscal 2004 in the range of $18 billion to $20 billion.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With approximately 90,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$11.8 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2003. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to our operations and results of operations, the accuracy of which is necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied include general economic conditions and the factors discussed under the “Risk Factors” heading in the Business section of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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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Roxanne Taylor
+1 (917) 452 5106