Europe Earnings: Accenture, Hochtief, Serco, SGL Carbon

Nigel Thomas
28 Jun, 2013
New York City

Accenture revenue rose 1% and net climbed 11.3% to $810.3 million but lowered outlook. Hochtief increased its stake in Australia based Leighton Holdings. SGL Carbon expects group EBITDA in the second quarter to be slightly below.

[R]3:20 PM Frankfurt – Accenture revenue rose 1% and net climbed 11.3% to $810.3 million but lowered outlook. Hochtief increased its stake in Australia based Leighton Holdings. SGL Carbon expects group EBITDA in the second quarter to be slightly below.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index fell 0.3% or 17.96 to 6,225 and in Frankfurt the DAX index dropped 0.8% or 63.82 to 7,927.

In Paris, CAC 40 index slumped 0.8% or 29.53 to 3,733.

Accenture Plc, the Netherlands based outsource service provider reported net revenue in the third quarter ending in May rose 1% to $7.20 billion compared with $7.15 billion a year earlier. Net income for the quarter climbed 11.3% to $810.3 million compared to $689.2 million and diluted earnings per share jumped $1.21 from $1.03 a year ago.

Revenue from America climbed to $3.44 billion from $3.23 billion, revenue from Europe, Middle East and Africa declined 4% to $2.78 billion compared to $2.91 billion and revenue from Asia Pacific dropped 5% to $975 million from $1.02 billion a year ago period.

New bookings for the quarter were $8.3 billion, with consulting bookings of $3.9 billion and outsourcing bookings of $4.4 billion.

The company cut its full-year outlook and now expects net revenues for the fourth quarter in the range of $6.7 billion to $7 billion and for the year now expects net revenue growth between of 3% and 4%.

The company estimated diluted earnings per share in the range of $4.90 to $4.94 compared to earlier range of $4.89 and $4.97.

Hochtief AG fell 0.9% to €49.72 after the Germany based construction group has lifted its stake from 53.5% to 54.96% in Australia based Leighton Holdings Ltd.

Serco Group Plc gained 3.5% to 621.50 pence after the UK based business services provider expects revenue growth in the first half to report ahead of forecast.

Strong revenue growth and the slight reduction in adjusted operating margin results operating profit will be in line with the original expectations.

SGL Carbon SE declined 8.7% to €25.02 after the Germany based carbon and graphite producer expects group EBITDA in the second quarter to be slightly below than the €34 million of first quarter 2013.

SGL now anticipates group lowered EBITDA for the year between 50% and 60% from €240 million of 2012.