The FINANCIAL — Accenture reported financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2018, ended Feb. 28, 2018, with net revenues of $9.6 billion, an increase of 15 percent in U.S. dollars and 10 percent in local currency over the same period last year.
Diluted earnings per share were $1.37, including a charge of $137 million, or $0.21 per share, related to the enactment of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Excluding this charge, diluted earnings per share were $1.58, compared with $1.33 for the second quarter last year.
Operating income for the quarter was $1.28 billion, an increase of 13 percent over the same period last year, and operating margin was 13.4 percent.
New bookings for the quarter were $10.3 billion, with consulting bookings of $5.7 billion and outsourcing bookings of $4.6 billion.
Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s chairman and CEO, said, “We are very pleased with our strong financial results for the second quarter. We again delivered broad-based, double-digit revenue growth and gained significant market share. Our record new bookings of $10.3 billion demonstrate that we continue to provide highly relevant services to our clients. We also delivered significant value for shareholders, driven by EPS growth of 19 percent on an adjusted basis and very strong free cash flow.
“We continue to benefit from the substantial investments we are making to scale our leadership positions in high-growth areas including digital, cloud and security services, which together now account for more than 55 percent of total revenues. With our highly differentiated capabilities and strong momentum in the business, we are confident in our ability to continue growing ahead of the market and delivering value for our clients and shareholders.”
Financial Review
Revenues before reimbursements (“net revenues”) for the second quarter of fiscal 2018 were $9.59 billion, compared with $8.32 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 15 percent in U.S. dollars and 10 percent in local currency. Net revenues for the quarter reflect
a foreign-exchange impact of positive 5.5 percent, compared with the positive 4.5 percent impact we had previously assumed. Adjusting for the actual foreign-exchange impact, the company’s guided range for quarterly net revenues was $9.24 billion to $9.49 billion.
Accenture’s second quarter fiscal 2018 net revenues were approximately $95 million above this adjusted range.
▪Consulting net revenues for the quarter were $5.16 billion, an increase of 17 percent in U.S. dollars and 11 percent in local currency compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2017.
▪Outsourcing net revenues were $4.43 billion, an increase of 13 percent in U.S. dollars and 8 percent in local currency compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2017.
Diluted EPS for the quarter were $1.37, compared with $1.33 for the second quarter last year. The charge related to U.S. tax law changes had a negative $0.21 impact on EPS in the second quarter of fiscal 2018. Excluding this charge, EPS for the quarter were $1.58, an increase of $0.25 from the second quarter last year. The $0.25 increase in EPS on an adjusted basis reflects:
▪a $0.17 increase from higher revenue and operating results;
▪a $0.10 increase from a lower effective tax rate; and
▪a $0.01 increase from a lower share count; partially offset by
▪a $0.02 decrease from higher non-operating expense; and
▪a $0.01 decrease from higher income attributable to noncontrolling interests.
Gross margin (gross profit as a percentage of net revenues) for the quarter was 29.7 percent, compared with 30.1 percent for the second quarter last year. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses for the quarter were $1.57 billion, or 16.3 percent of net revenues, compared with $1.37 billion, or 16.4 percent of net revenues, for the second quarter last year.
Operating income for the quarter increased 13 percent, to $1.28 billion, or 13.4 percent of net revenues, compared with $1.14 billion, or 13.7 percent of net revenues, for the second quarter of fiscal 2017.
The company’s effective tax rate for the quarter was 26.1 percent, compared with 20.7 percent for the second quarter last year. Excluding the enactment date impact of the U.S. tax law changes, the effective tax rate for the second quarter of fiscal 2018 was 15.1 percent. The lower effective tax rate on an adjusted basis was primarily due to lower expenses for adjustments to prior-year tax liabilities, partially offset by lower benefits from final determinations of prior-year tax liabilities, according to Accenture.
Net income for the quarter was $920 million, compared with $887 million for the second quarter last year. Excluding the impact of the U.S. tax law changes, net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2018 was $1.06 billion.
Operating cash flow for the quarter was $924 million and property and equipment additions were $133 million. Free cash flow, defined as operating cash flow net of property and equipment additions, was $791 million for the quarter. For the same period last year, operating cash flow
was $155 million; property and equipment additions were $104 million; and free cash flow was $50 million.
Days services outstanding, or DSOs, were 40 days at Feb. 28, 2018, compared with 39 days at Aug. 31, 2017 and 42 days at Feb. 28, 2017.
Accenture’s total cash balance at Feb. 28, 2018 was $3.6 billion, compared with $4.1 billion at Aug. 31, 2017.
New Bookings
New bookings for the second quarter were $10.3 billion and reflect a positive 5.5 percent foreign-currency impact compared with new bookings in the second quarter last year.
▪Consulting new bookings were $5.7 billion, or 55 percent of total new bookings.
▪Outsourcing new bookings were $4.6 billion, or 45 percent of total new bookings.
Net Revenues by Operating Group
Net revenues by operating group were as follows:
▪Communications, Media & Technology: $1.93 billion, compared with $1.62 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 19 percent in U.S. dollars and 15 percent in local currency.
▪Financial Services: $2.02 billion, compared with $1.77 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 14 percent in U.S. dollars and 7 percent in local currency.
▪Health & Public Service: $1.64 billion, compared with $1.51 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 9 percent in U.S. dollars and 6 percent in local currency.
▪Products: $2.63 billion, compared with $2.26 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 16 percent in U.S. dollars and 10 percent in local currency.
▪Resources: $1.34 billion, compared with $1.14 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 17 percent in U.S. dollars and 11 percent in local currency.
Net Revenues by Geographic Region
Net revenues by geographic region for the second quarter of fiscal 2018 were as follows:
▪North America: $4.28 billion, compared with $3.96 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 8 percent in both U.S. dollars and local currency.
▪Europe: $3.48 billion, compared with $2.84 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 23 percent in U.S. dollars and 10 percent in local currency.
▪Growth Markets: $1.82 billion, compared with $1.52 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, an increase of 20 percent in U.S. dollars and 15 percent in local currency.
Returning Cash to Shareholders
Accenture continues to return cash to shareholders through cash dividends and share repurchases.
Dividend
Accenture plc has declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $1.33 per share on Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares for shareholders of record at the close of business on April 12, 2018. This dividend is payable on May 15, 2018.
Combined with the semi-annual cash dividend of $1.33 per share paid on Nov. 15, 2017, this will bring the total dividend payments for the fiscal year to $2.66 per share, for total projected cash dividend payments of approximately $1.71 billion.
Share Repurchase Activity
During the second quarter of fiscal 2018, Accenture repurchased or redeemed 5.2 million shares, including 2.8 million shares repurchased in the open market, for a total of $804 million.
This brings Accenture’s total share repurchases and redemptions for the first half of fiscal 2018 to 9.2 million shares, including 6.0 million shares repurchased in the open market, for a total of $1.37 billion.
Accenture’s total remaining share repurchase authority at Feb. 28, 2018 was approximately $2.1 billion.
At Feb. 28, 2018, Accenture had approximately 644 million total shares outstanding, including 618 million Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares and minority holdings of 27 million shares (Accenture Holdings plc ordinary shares and Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares).
Business Outlook
Third Quarter Fiscal 2018
Accenture expects net revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 to be in the range of $9.90 billion to $10.15 billion, 6 percent to 9 percent growth in local currency, reflecting the company’s assumption of a positive 5.5 percent foreign-exchange impact compared with the third quarter of fiscal 2017.
Fiscal Year 2018
Accenture’s business outlook for the full 2018 fiscal year now assumes that the foreign- exchange impact on its results in U.S. dollars will be positive 4.0 percent compared with fiscal 2017; the previous foreign-exchange assumption was positive 2.5 percent.
For fiscal 2018, the company now expects net revenue growth to be in the range of 7 percent to 9 percent in local currency, compared with 6 percent to 8 percent previously.
The company now expects GAAP diluted EPS to be in the range of $6.40 to $6.49, including the $0.21 charge related to U.S. tax law changes. Excluding this charge, the company now expects EPS to be in the range of $6.61 to $6.70, compared with $6.48 to $6.66 previously.
Accenture now expects operating margin for the full fiscal year to be 14.8 percent, consistent with the adjusted operating margin for fiscal 2017; the company previously expected operating margin to expand 10 to 30 basis points on an adjusted basis.
For fiscal 2018, the company now expects operating cash flow to be in the range of $5.2 billion to $5.5 billion, compared with $5.0 billion to $5.3 billion previously; continues to expect property and equipment additions to be $600 million; and now expects free cash flow to be in the range of $4.6 billion to $4.9 billion, compared with $4.4 billion to $4.7 billion previously.
The company now expects its GAAP annual effective tax rate to be in the range of 24 percent to 26 percent, compared with 22 percent to 24 percent previously. Excluding the enactment date impact of the U.S. tax law changes, the company continues to expect its annual effective tax rate to be in the range of 22 percent to 24 percent.
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