Accenture sees revenue rise on back of strong cloud service performance

Consulting and outsourcing services firm Accenture reported a 7.6% rise in revenue for its final quarter of the year, a figure which outstripped analysts' expectations.

Total revenue was $8.5bn, surpassing projections of $8.4bn from Wall Street.

For the same period last year, the Dublin-based company earned revenue of $7.89bn.

Accenture has said it is putting a lot of effort into its digital and cloud services, as it competes with the likes of IBM and Tata Consultancy Services.

For the full fiscal year, the company reported a 6% increase in its revenue, earning $32.9bn. The dilited earnings per share during that time was $5.34, up 11% from $4.82 in 2015.

"Our durable and balanced performance demonstrates that our growth strategy continues to
resonate with the needs of our clients, and that we are clearly executing very well," said Accenture CEO and chairman Pierre Nanterme.

"Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in high-growth areas across Accenture — with a particular focus
on digital, cloud and security services, which accounted for approximately 40 percent of our revenues in fiscal 2016."