Services provider continues to expand its outsourcing business Accenture exceeded revenue expectations and met earnings expectations in its fourth fiscal quarter, as the services provider continued to expand its outsourcing business to offset industrywide softness in the consulting and integration market, which is its core business.Accenture posted net revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter ended Aug. 31, 2003, exceeding the consensus expectation of $2.99 billion from analysts polled by Thomson First Call. Earnings per share came in at $0.25, meeting analyst expectations, on net income of $120.5 million.Compared with 2002’s fourth quarter, net revenue grew 12 percent in U.S. dollars and 5 percent in the local currencies of countries where Accenture operates, while earnings per share and net income more than tripled from $0.08 per share and $38.1 million, respectively. Net revenue is total revenue before reimbursements. Outsourcing accounted for $1.04 billion of net revenue, an increase over 2002’s fourth quarter of 41 percent in U.S. dollars and 33 percent in local currency, a clear sign of Accenture’s continued push into this segment of the IT services market. Industrywide, the outsourcing segment is doing much better than the consulting and integration segment, which is Accenture’s core business. Accenture generated $1.87 billion in consulting and integration business, flat in U.S. dollars and down 8 percent in local currency when compared with last year’s fourth quarter.For the full fiscal year 2003, revenue was $11.82 billion, compared with $11.57 billion in fiscal 2002, while earnings per share grew to $1.05 from $0.56. Net income came in at $498.23 million, up from $244.89 million.The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company issued its earnings report Thursday morning, before the financial markets opened in New York. The stock (ACN) closed down 6.67 percent at $22.12 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. For the first quarter of fiscal 2004, Accenture expects net revenue of $3.09 billion and earnings per share in the range of $0.27 to $0.28. Technology IndustrySoftware DevelopmentApplication Integration