(Reuters) - Consulting and outsourcing company Accenture Plc raised its revenue forecast for fiscal 2015 after contract wins helped the company post better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue.
The company said it expects revenue growth of 5-8 percent for the year ending August on a local currency basis, up from the 4-7 percent growth it had estimated earlier.
ACCENTURE (ACN.NY)s shares rose 3.5 percent to $88.25 in premarket trading on Thursday.
The company, however, cut its earnings forecast, citing a larger-than-expected impact from a strong dollar.
Accenture, which gets about 56 percent of its revenue from outside North America, said it expects earnings $4.66-$4.80 per share for the period, down from its previous forecast of $4.74-$4.88.
The company's quarterly results were mainly driven by double-digit percentage growth in its communications, media and technology group and health and public services operation.
Revenue in the outsourcing business rose 11.2 percent to $3.80 billion in U.S. dollar terms, accounting for 48 percent of the company's total net revenue.
Accenture's outsourcing business, which competes with India's Infosys Ltd
Revenue in Accenture's consulting business, which competes with Hewlett-Packard Co
Accenture said its net income including non-controlling interests rose to $882.2 million, or $1.29 per diluted share, in the first quarter ended Nov. 30 from $800.9 million, or $1.15 per share, a year earlier.
Net revenue rose to 7.3 percent to $7.90 billion.
Analysts had expected a profit of $1.20 per share on revenue of $7.69 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.
(Reporting By Lehar Maan and Abhirup Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
