Accenture Beats Forecasts

But CEO Green said that Accenture's consulting business can endure economic headwinds because it doesn't focus on small, discretionary projects, but rather on long-term strategic issues that companies face, such as complying with regulatory mandates or rolling out information systems through globally scattered operations.

Accenture's management also countered concerns that the problems in the credit markets can leave financial services firms with constrained budgets for consulting and technology projects.

"The subprime market issues has had no impact on our business to date, although we continue to monitor the situation," said Steve Rohleder, chief operating officer, during the conference call.

Financial services firms are Accenture's second-largest client base and accounted for 22% of revenue in the quarter. The communications and high tech sector accounted for 24% of revenue.

Underscoring confidence in is future cash flow, the company boosted its annual dividend by 7 cents or 20% to 42 cents.

For the first quarter, Accenture forecast net revenue of $5.4 billion to $5.6 billion, ahead of analysts' consensus estimate. The company also forecast annual earnings of $2.21 to $2.26 per share, vs. the Street estimate of $2.22.

Accenture expects full-year net revenue to grow by 9% to 12%, to $21.5 billion to $22.1 billion, ahead of expectations.

In recent after-hours trading, shares of Accenture were up 33 cents, or 0.9%, to $38.35.

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