Accenture has provided more evidence of the success of many outsourcing and services companies in the economic downturn. The company surprised many analysts by reporting higher than expected Q2 (ending 29 February) results, and accordingly increased its full-year earnings forecast.

Net income rose 37 percent to $406.6 million on revenues of 5.61 billion, from $296.7 million on revenues of $4.75 billion in the same period last year. Chief financial officer (CFO) Pamela Craig added that outsourcing revenues were at a record high of $2.26 billion, an increase of 18% in US dollars and 11% in local currency, she said.

Chairman and CEO William Green said: “Our continued focus on clients, on execution and on accountability serves us well. In today’s environment clients are looking for results, and this plays to our strength. We see a lot of opportunities for our services in the market, and we are laser focused on taking advantage of them.

Chief operating officer (COO) Stephen Rohleder said: “We’re extremely pleased that four of our five operating groups achieved strong revenue growth and also delivered strong operating margin.” Rohleder said that demand within the financial services sector remains strong, despite the global economic downturn. “We are seeing strong demand in financial services throughout Europe and increased demand in Asia Pacific, while North America is holding up well.

“Through long-term relationships with key clients, we are selling additional work and signing contract renewals and extensions. We’ve sharpened our offerings to target the C-suite issues of today including cost management and we are using outsourcing as a strategic tool to deliver improved business results.”

Another operating group doing well for Accenture is communications and high tech (CHT), which continues to show strong momentum, said Rohleder. “This was the third straight quarter in which CHT had double-digit revenue growth in both US dollars and in local currency. In communications, we are seeing significant demand in the customer service area, which has resulted in some recent big wins throughout Europe.”

Rohleder said that not all areas of the outsourcing business were faring as strongly as others, leading to lower revenues in one market sector. “The public service operating group had some challenges this quarter, with three percent revenue growth in US dollars and a decrease of one percent in local currency,” he said.

“This was primarily due to lower outsourcing revenues in the Americas. Q2 operating margin in public service was affected by delivery inefficiencies on a few contracts, as well as the investment we are making in building a strong pipeline of early stage opportunities. We are very focused on improving the growth and the operational performance in this business unit.”