SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Technology outsourcing and consulting firm Accenture Ltd on Thursday reported a quarterly profit that topped Wall Street's forecast, but the company lowered its fiscal-year outlook due to currency effects.
Accenture said its net profit in the fiscal first-quarter ended November 30 rose to $479.9 million, or 74 cents a share, from $381.3 million, or 60 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Net revenue climbed 6 percent to $6.02 billion, topping the $5.99 billion average estimate, according to Reuters Estimates.
"We're very pleased with our strong first-quarter performance, especially given the macro-economic environment," William Green, Accenture's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. "Demand patterns are changing but remain very active and positive looking forward."
Accenture is lowering its outlook for the remainder of fiscal 2009 primarily to reflect changing foreign-currency assumptions. The company is also modestly lowering its outlook for net revenue growth for the year, given continued market uncertainty, it said.
The company forecast fiscal second-quarter revenue of $5.45 billion to $5.64 billion, versus the average analyst range of $5.4 billion to $6.2 billion.
Accenture also lowered its fiscal 2009 earnings forecast to a range of $2.78 to $2.85 a share on net revenue growth of 6 percent to 10 percent.
The company had previously forecast a per-share profit of $2.85 to $2.93 on revenue growth of 9 percent to 12 percent.
Accenture's shares have held up relatively well in a brutal year for stocks, falling around 15 percent.
Shares of the Bermuda-based company closed the regular session up 17 cents at $30.41.
(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; Editing by Gary Hill)
