IT services and consulting, Accenture reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2023, which ended November 30, 2022, with revenues of $15.7 billion, an increase of 5% in U.S. dollars and 15% in local currency over the same period last year.
Business Outlook
Accenture expects revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2023 to be in the range of $15.20 billion to $15.75 billion, an increase of 6% to 10% in local currency, reflecting the company’s assumption of an approximately negative 5% foreign-exchange impact compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2022.
According to the Hindu BusinessLine, The company has given below-market-estimate revenue guidance due to reduced IT spending bought on by macroeconomic headwinds and prevailing uncertainty.
This is a probable indication that Indian IT firms may face headwinds and see the growth momentum slowing down.Â
According to analysts, The guidance given by the IT major is frequently viewed as a gauge for the Indian IT sector.
Analysts believe for the Indian It sector, if not in the immediate next quarter would see a slowdown in the coming quarters as the global economic scenario evolves.Â
Accenture’s business outlook for the full 2023 fiscal year now assumes that the foreign exchange impact on its results in U.S. dollars will be approximately negative 5% compared with fiscal 2022; the company previously expected a negative 6% foreign-exchange impact.
For fiscal 2023, the company continues to expect revenue growth to be in the range of 8% to 11 % in local currency.
Accenture continues to expect the operating margin for the full 2023 fiscal year to be in the range of 15.3% to 15.5%, an expansion of 10 to 30 basis points from fiscal 2022.
The company continues to expect its annual effective tax rate to be in the range of 23% to 25%. The company now expects diluted EPS to be in the range of $11.20 to $11.52, an increase of 5% to 8% over FY22 diluted EPS. The company previously expected diluted EPS to be in the range of $11.09 to $11.41.
For fiscal 2023, the company continues to expect operating cash flow to be in the range of $8.5 billion to $9.0 billion; property and equipment additions to be $800 million, and free cash flow to be in the range of $7.7 billion to $8.2 billion.
The company continues to expect to return at least $7.1 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.
