Accenture forecasts quarterly revenue below estimates on cautious enterprise spending
March 19 (Reuters) - Accenture forecast quarterly revenue below estimates on Thursday, as clients remain cautious on spending on large IT transformation projects amid an uncertain economic environment.
Shares of the Dublin, Ireland-based company were down 3% in premarket trading.
The company has been dealing with a challenging economic environment, with clients delaying large digital transformation projects and favoring cost control and short-term initiatives over broad overhauls.
The company expects fiscal third-quarter revenue between $18.35 billion and $19.00 billion, with the midpoint slightly below analysts' average estimate of $18.72 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company's revenue rose 8% to $18.04 billion for the second quarter, beating estimates of $17.84 billion.
Accenture reported a profit of $2.93 per share, compared with $2.82 per share in the same quarter last year.
New bookings, a metric that measures future revenue based on contracts, rose 6% to $22.1 billion in the second quarter.
(Reporting by Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)