(Reuters) - Consulting and outsourcing company Accenture Plc (>> Accenture Plc) raised its full-year revenue growth forecast for the second time as it won more business from companies looking to cut costs and improve efficiency in a tough economic environment.
Accenture's shares rose as much as 7 percent to a record high of $94.59 in early trading on Thursday.
The company also reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue, helped by growth in revenue from North American clients.
Accenture's net revenue rose 5 percent in the second quarter. Revenue increased 6 percent in U.S. dollar terms in its outsourcing business and 4 percent in its consulting business.
"This is the best constant-currency growth we have seen out of the company in years, since the second quarter of 2012..." Susquehanna Financial Group analyst James Friedman told Reuters.
The consulting business accounts for a little more than half of Accenture's total revenue, with its outsourcing unit contributing the rest.
Accenture's rivals include India's Infosys Ltd (>> Infosys Ltd) and Tata Consultancy Services (>> Tata Consultancy Services Limited) in the outsourcing business and Hewlett-Packard Co (>> Hewlett-Packard Company) and IBM Corp (>> International Business Machines Corp.) in the consulting business.
Accenture said it expected revenue to grow 8-10 percent on a local-currency basis in the year ending August. The company had raised its revenue growth forecast to 5-8 percent in December from 4-7 percent.
Accenture's revenue growth is accelerating at a time the growth of other technology services companies is slowing, Friedman said.
The company, however, cut the top end of its full-year earnings forecast range, saying it now expects the negative impact of a strong dollar to be higher than previously anticipated.
Accenture, which gets a little more than half of its revenue from outside North America, narrowed its profit forecast range to $4.66-$4.76 per share from $4.66-$4.80.
The company's net income rose about 3 percent to $743.2 million (497 million pounds), or $1.08 per share, in the quarter ended Feb. 28.
Net revenue rose to $7.49 billion from $7.13 billion.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.07 per share and revenue of $7.38 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Accenture's shares were up 6.2 percent at $93.67 on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Editing by Kirti Pandey)
By Abhirup Roy and Lehar Maan