Accenture revenue forecast tops estimates on cloud, security services demand

IT consulting firm Accenture Plc forecast better-than-expected second-quarter revenue on Thursday, as more clients seek its cloud and security services, sending its shares up more than 10 percent in premarket trade.

Client spending, which rebounded last fiscal year to pre-pandemic levels due to a shift to hybrid working models, has stayed strong with Accenture reporting robust bookings of $16.8 billion in the reported quarter, up 30 percent from a year earlier.

"This is the direct result of having executed for years a strategy to rotate our business to digital, cloud and security," Accenture Chief Executive Officer Julie Sweet said.

Analysts expect investments in these segments by the company, which hired 50,000 people during the quarter, to generate long-term benefits and help it compete better with peers Cognizant and Infosys for market share in a booming sector.

This strong industry-wide growth will likely be sustainable, as the pandemic helped create a multi-year IT spending cycle, Wedbush Securities analyst Moshe Katri said.

Shares of the Dublin, Ireland-based company have outperformed the S&P 500 Index this year, thanks to increased spending on digitization and cloud adoption.

Accenture now expects full-year revenue to grow between 19 percent and 22 percent from 12 percent to 15 percent forecast earlier.

Revenue for the quarter ended Nov. 30 jumped 27 percent to $14.97 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $14.19 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Accenture said it expects current-quarter revenue between $14.30 billion and $14.75 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $14.09 billion.

The company earned $2.78 per share during the first quarter. Analysts had expected a profit of $2.63 per share.

-reuters-

Accenture's net revenue rises 4.7 percent

BENGALURU - Consulting and outsourcing services provider Accenture Plc reported a 4.7 percent increase in quarterly net revenue, helped by strong demand for its digital and cloud services.

Net income attributable to Accenture fell to $838.8 million or $1.33 per share in the second quarter ended Feb. 28, from $1.33 billion or $2.08 per share, a year earlier.

Net revenue rose to $8.32 billion from $7.95 billion.

Accenture's digital, cloud and security-related services make up more than 40 percent of total revenue.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

How Obamacare helps boost BPO employment in PH

MANILA – More and more Filipino nurses are finding jobs in Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) firms following the US Supreme Court verdict upholding Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act.

According to Pasig City Representative Roman Romulo, chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, the Philippine units of Dublin-based Accenture plc and New York-based EXL Service Holdings Inc. have increased their hiring of Filipino nurses, mainly for deployment to their global delivery centers in Cebu City.

"Both firms are signing up Filipino nurses with US licenses as well as those who have passed the NCLEX but still without US licenses," said Romulo.

Romulo said both firms provide a wide range of outsourced business support services to American health insurers. Accenture has 16 delivery centers in the Philippines, while EXL has three.

"There's no question Obamacare is driving US health insurers to transfer additional contact center, insurance claims processing, clinical support analysis, medical coding, and other non-core, business support jobs to the Philippines, either through independent BPO providers, or through in-house back offices,'' Romulo said.

Meanwhile, Romulo said UnitedHealth Group Inc. is also enlisting Filipino nurses and other fresh college graduates for training and employment opportunities as transition managers, assistant managers, team leaders, specialists handling health care accounts, customer service representatives and medical coders, whether certified or not.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

More women CTOs seen in next 15 years -survey

MANILA, Philippines - More females are expected to be appointed as chief technology officers (CTOs) in the next 15 years, a study by Accenture showed.

More than 7 in 10 respondents (71 percent) believe the number of women CTOs will grow by 2030.

In the Philippines, a significantly higher number of respondents (85 percent) believe more women will become CTOs in the next 15 years.

More than half of respondents (52 percent) said their companies are also preparing more women for senior management this year than they did last year.

"Whether you are in charge of a meeting, an employee group, a volunteer event or a major project or account, there is always an opportunity to lead," Monina Cacayan, Managing Director in Accenture Operations and Inclusion & Diversity sponsor in the Philippines, said.

Also, the study showed 80 percent of respondents agree on-the-job training is the most effective form of learning in the workplace and more important than formal training (66 percent).

The survey respondents believe that, to advance, leaders should accept new responsibilities (54 percent), continue learning (48 percent) and mentor others (42 percent).

Of these areas for improvement, majority (70 percent) of Filipino employees feel that continuous learning is an important trait of leaders.

Asked about the main obstacles to successfully lead a team, respondents cited lack of interpersonal skills (50 percent), communication skills (44 percent) and role clarity (39 percent).

Despite the belief that softer skills – effective communication, ability to manage change and ability to inspire others (cited by 55 percent, 47 percent and 45 percent, respectively) – are the most important leadership skills, only 38 percent of respondents say their companies offer “soft skills” training, compared to 53 percent who say their company offers technical-skills training.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Accenture to expand in Ilocos Norte

MANILA, Philippines - Accenture, a global management consulting and outsourcing company, is expanding its operations in the Philippines.

Accenture announced its new delivery center based in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte is set to become operational later this year.

This would be the third Accenture delivery center in the country, in addition to centers in Metro Manila and Cebu City.

San Nicolas Mayor Melanie Grace Valdez, San Nicolas Vice Mayor Alfredo Valdez, and Accenture Delivery Center for Operations in the Philippines Lead Benedict Hernandez, recently led a time capsule laying ceremony to commemorate the official start of construction.

"We are honored that San Nicolas was chosen as the first location for Accenture in Ilocos. We are looking forward to a long-term relationship with Accenture as they build their business in the province. We welcome Accenture to our community and we pledge our commitment to support your endeavors in our municipality," Valdez said.

For his part, Hernandez said Accenture's further expansion in the Philippines attests to the company's continued confidence in the country.

"The delivery center in Ilocos strengthens our company's commitment and capability in building a greater future for both our clients and our more than 35,000 people in the country," he said.

Accenture plans to hire almost 200 in Ilocos to fill positions for the center.

Hernandez said the Ilocos facility will initially provide Accenture Operations services in health administration and finance for the company's global clients across Europe and North America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

How Accenture is bringing BPO jobs to PH provinces

MANILA, Philippines – Accenture is expected to provide more employment opportunities for Filipinos living in rural areas under its Rural BPO Program.

Under the program, Accenture will tap small business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in provinces to provide training and employment to the residents.

Benedict Hernandez, lead Accenture Delivery Center for Operations in the Philippines, said the program aims to boost efforts in achieving inclusive growth in the country.

“Rural BPO is all about inclusive growth. It is focused on being able to bring the benefits of its fast growing service to communities like the first one we launched in Tanjay,” Hernandez told reporters in a press briefing on Tuesday.

Accenture has trained and employed 38 residents of Tanjay, Negros Oriental for its first Rural BPO center, which has been in operation for a year.

According to Manish Sharma, Accenture’s senior managing director, the Rural BPO program in Tanjay has increased the average annual household income by 33 percent, from P139,600 to P186,000.

Sharma also said that all employees have been able to open a savings account.

Employment opportunities that have opened up in Tanjay because of the program include jobs in data, tech support, analysts, and voice support.

Hernandez said Accenture is looking to open more BPO centers in rural areas, but the firm has yet to identify specific locations.

He said the program needs requirements such as support from local government, connectivity, competitive talent pool, and a competent local partner.

For its Rural BPO center in Tanjay, Accenture partnered with the Visayan Knowledge Process Outsourcing (VKPO).

Hernandez said Accenture is targeting to fill up the center’s 150 seats.

He said bringing BPO centers to rural areas, which can only provide jobs in agriculture, fishing and education, will benefit not only the residents but the community as well.

He noted that most college graduates from rural areas leave their hometown to work in the city.

“What we have done is that we created those careers in provinces like Tanjay so they don’t have to leave their families,” said Hernandez.

The BPO center in Tanjay is Accenture’s fourth location and its first in the Philippines, with the three others located in India.

In the Philippines, Accenture has a workforce of more than 32,000 employees.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

PH businesses see benefits from analytics

MANILA, Philippines - A majority of business leaders in Southeast Asia are committed to the adoption of analytics or fact-based decision-making, according to research by Accenture.

The Accenture study showed 96% of ASEAN business leaders are committed to analytics, compared to 86% of their counterparts in the United Kingdom and 85% in the United States.

However 89% of ASEAN companies admitted "analytics is not yet deeply ingrained into the fabric of most companies as an integrated, enterprise-wide approach."

Analytics is an increasingly valuable source for differentiating products and services.

"Effective analytics programmes are built on three key success factors,” said Nils Michaelis, ASEAN managing director, Accenture Analytics.

"The first is to establish top management commitment and disciplined processes that ensure valuable insights and clear recommendations are being generated, acted on, and measured for effectiveness. Next, companies should use a ‘build, buy and partner’ strategy to source skills, given the supply constraints. Finally, they must apply technology that ensures data integrity, quality and accessibility.”

Even if some Southeast Asian companies regard the overall quality of their data as "good," they say data collection and integration are the top challenges facing them.

According to Accenture, getting the full return on investments in analytics is a journey that leads from issues, to insight, to decisions, to action and ultimately to visible and measurable outcome. Leading companies are creating a virtuous feedback loop that allows them to collect data, analyse the data, harvest insights, make decisions and then respond with agility.

In the Philippines, Accenture said two-thirds (68%) of Filipino respondents are satisfied with business outcomes driven by their analytic investments.

Accenture also said a majority of Filipino companies said they see tangible business outcomes with the use of analytics in the development of new products and services (78%) and customer retention and acquisitions (74%).

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

36 biggest BPO firms in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - The country's business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is expected to create around 124,000 new full-time jobs this year.

"Based on sectoral projections, we are confident that BPO firms will be able to add an average of 124,000 well-paying jobs annually from 2014 to 2016, or a total of 372,000 new posts over the next three years," Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo said in a statement.

Romulo said big BPO firms are expected to drive the creation of new jobs in the country.

"As they draw in more business, the super BPO firms can quickly scale up their activities here and hire extra staff, while reducing cost per unit of output owing to greater operational efficiency," he said.

At the same time, Romulo revealed the list of the country's 36 biggest BPO firms, based on 2012 revenues.

1. Accenture Inc. (P28.104 billion in revenues);
2. Convergys Philippines Services Corp. (P17.281 billion);
3. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A-Philippine Global Service Center (P10.805 billion);
4. 24/7 Customer Philippines Inc. (P7.711 billion);
5. Telephilippines Inc. (P7.241 billion);
6. TeleTech Offshore Investments B.V. (P6.978 billion);
7. Sutherland Global Services Philippines Inc. (P6.805 billion);
8. Stream International Global Services Philippines Inc. (P6.738 billion);
9. Sitel Philippines Corp. (P6.364 billion);
10. Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd. (P5.754 billion);
11. Sykes Asia Inc. (P5.617 billion);
12. IBM Daksh Business Process Services Philippines Inc. (P5.516 billion);
13. Aegis PeopleSupport Inc. (P5.445 billion);
14. TeleTech Customer Care Management Philippines Inc. (P5.402 billion);
15. IBM Business Services Inc. (P5.211 billion);
16. Telus International Philippines Inc. (P4.962 billion);
17. Shell Shared Services (Asia) B.V. (P4.821 billion);
18. HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Philippines) Inc. (P4.700 billion);
19. ePLDT Inc. (P4.147 billion);
20. SPi CRM Inc. (P3.501 billion);
21. ACS of the Philippines Inc. (P3.492 billion);
22. VXI Global Holdings B.V. (P3.266 billion);
23. Emerson Electric (Asia) Ltd. (P3.230 billion);
24. StarTek International Ltd. (P3.094 billion);
25. IBM Solutions Delivery Inc. (P3.019 billion);
26. Sykes Marketing Services Inc. (P2.760 billion);
27. SPi Technologies Inc. (P2.626 billion);
28. Genpact Services LLC (P2.552 billion);
29. Macquarie Offshore Services Pty. Ltd. (P2.522 billion);
30. Thomson Reuters Corp. Pte. Ltd. (P2.265 billion);
31. AIG Shared Services Corp. Philippines (P2.357 billion);
32. Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd. (P2.194 billion);
33. Lexmark Research and Development Corp. (P1.956 billion);
34. ANZ Global Services and Operations (Manila) Inc. (P1.869 billion);
35. Maersk Global Service Centers (Philippines) Ltd. (P1.859 billion); and
36. Manulife Data Services Inc. (P1.745 billion).

Romulo noted these 36 firms posted a combined revenue of P192 billion in 2012.

BPO giants such as Accenture and Convergys currently have more than 35,000 employees each in the Philippines.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Accenture mobilizes $2-M for 'Yolanda' relief efforts

MANILA, Philippines - Accenture said it has mobilized more than $2 million in cash and pro-bono contributions to support disaster relief and reconstruction efforts in typhoon-hit Philippines.

"Our thoughts remain with our colleagues, their families and the people of the Philippines, as we commit to supporting the rebuilding process," Pierre Nanterme, Accenture Chairman & CEO, said.

Accenture and the Accenture Foundations will donate $1 million to Skills to Succeed strategic partner Plan International. Cash grants will offer support for long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts required to enable communities to rebuild through skills development and economic activity.

Accenture Development Partnerships will also deliver pro-bono consulting services to Plan International during the reconstruction phase, when business and technology expertise offer the greatest impact in areas such as skills building and job training.

Accenture employees around the world have contributed more than $600,000 to the Philippine Red Cross and other charities providing local relief.

Accenture is providing employees in the Philippines with paid volunteering time to support relief operations.

"In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, we hope to make a sustainable difference to the long-term economic vitality and resilience of individuals, families and communities in the Philippines," Jill Huntley, managing director – Global Corporate Citizenship at Accenture, said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com