Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 36
Purchases of Accenture plc Class A Ordinary Shares
The following table provides information relating to our purchases of Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. For year-to-date information on all of our share purchases, redemptions and exchanges and further discussion of our share purchase activity, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Share Purchases and Redemptions.”
Period Total Number of
Shares
Purchased Average
Price Paid
per Share (1) Total Number of
Shares Purchased as
Part of Publicly
Announced Plans or
Programs (2) Approximate Dollar Value
of Shares that May Yet Be
Purchased Under the Plans or
Programs (3)
(in millions of U.S. dollars)
June 1, 2024 — June 30, 2024 1,268,456 $ 291.18 1,247,913 $ 2,937
July 1, 2024 — July 31, 2024 395,110 315.91 382,304 2,815
August 1, 2024 — August 31, 2024 408,997 327.47 370,091 2,694
Total (4) 2,072,563 $ 303.05 2,000,308
(1) Average price paid per share reflects the total cash outlay for the period, divided by the number of shares acquired, including those acquired by purchase or redemption for cash and any acquired by means of employee forfeiture.
(2) Since August 2001, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc has authorized and periodically confirmed a publicly announced open-market share purchase program for acquiring Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, we purchased 2,000,308 Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares under this program for an aggregate price of $605 million. The open-market purchase program does not have an expiration date.
(3) As of August 31, 2024, our aggregate available authorization for share purchases and redemptions was $2,694 million, which management has the discretion to use for either our publicly announced open-market share purchase program or our other share purchase programs. Since August 2001 and as of August 31, 2024, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc has authorized an aggregate of $50.1 billion for share purchases and redemptions by Accenture plc and Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. On September 25, 2024, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc approved $4,000 million in additional share repurchase authority, bringing Accenture’s total outstanding authority to $6,694 million.
(4) During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, Accenture purchased 72,255 Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares in transactions unrelated to publicly announced share plans or programs. These transactions consisted of acquisitions of Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares primarily via share withholding for payroll tax obligations due from employees and former employees in connection with the delivery of Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares under our various employee equity share plans. These purchases of shares in connection with employee share plans do not affect our aggregate available authorization for our publicly announced open-market share purchase and our other share purchase programs.
Item 6. [Reserved]
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ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K
Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 37
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion and analysis also contains forward-looking statements and should also be read in conjunction with the disclosures and information contained in “Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
We use the terms “Accenture,” “we,” “our” and “us” in this report to refer to Accenture plc and its subsidiaries. All references to years, unless otherwise noted, refer to our fiscal year, which ends on August 31. For example, a reference to “fiscal 2024” means the 12-month period that ended on August 31, 2024. All references to quarters, unless otherwise noted, refer to the quarters of our fiscal year.
We use the term “in local currency” so that certain financial results may be viewed without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, thereby facilitating period-to-period comparisons of business performance. Financial results “in local currency” are calculated by restating current period activity into U.S. dollars using the comparable prior-year period’s foreign currency exchange rates. This approach is used for all results where the functional currency is not the U.S. dollar.
Overview
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song. We serve clients in three geographic markets: North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Growth Markets (Asia Pacific and Latin America). We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability to help the world’s leading organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. In the first quarter of fiscal 2025, our Latin America market unit will move from Growth Markets to North America. With this change, North America will become the Americas market and Growth Markets will become the Asia Pacific market.
Our results of operations are affected by economic conditions, including macroeconomic conditions, the overall inflationary environment and levels of business confidence. There continues to be significant economic and geopolitical uncertainty in many markets around the world, which has impacted and may continue to impact our business. These conditions have slowed the pace and level of client spending, particularly for smaller contracts with a shorter duration and for our consulting services. Clients continue to prioritize large-scale transformations, which convert to revenue over a longer period.
Key Metrics
Key metrics for fiscal 2024 compared to fiscal 2023 are included below. We have presented operating income, operating margin, effective tax rate and diluted earnings per share on a non-GAAP or “adjusted” basis to exclude the impact of $438 million and $1,063 million, respectively, in business optimization costs recorded during fiscal 2024 and 2023 and, with respect to effective tax rate and diluted earnings per share, the impact of a $253 million investment gain related to our investment in Duck Creek Technologies recorded during fiscal 2023 as discussed further in our Results of Operations. For additional information regarding business optimization costs, see Note 1 (Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
• Revenues of $64.9 billion, an increase of 1% in U.S. dollars and 2% in local currency;
• New bookings of $81.2 billion, an increase of 13% in U.S. dollars and 14% in local currency;
• Operating margin of 14.8%, compared to 13.7% in fiscal 2023; adjusted operating margin was 15.5% compared to 15.4% in fiscal 2023;
• Diluted earnings per share of $11.44, a 6% increase over $10.77 for fiscal 2023; adjusted earnings per share increased 2% to $11.95 compared to $11.67 for fiscal 2023; and
• Cash returned to shareholders of $7.8 billion, including share purchases of $4.5 billion and dividends of $3.2 billion.
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Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 38
Revenues
Fiscal Percent
Increase (Decrease)
U.S.
Dollars Percent
Increase (Decrease)
Local
Currency Percent of Total
Revenues
for Fiscal
(in billions of U.S. dollars) 2024 2023 2024 2023
Geographic Markets North America (1) $ 30.7 $ 30.3 1 % 2 % 47 % 47 %
EMEA (2) 22.8 22.3 2 — 35 35
Growth Markets (1) (2) 11.3 11.5 (2) 7 17 18
Total Revenues $ 64.9 $ 64.1 1 % 2 % 100 % 100 %
Industry Groups Communications, Media & Technology $ 10.8 $ 11.5 (5) % (4) % 17 % 18 %
Financial Services 11.6 12.1 (4) (3) 18 19
Health & Public Service 13.8 12.6 10 10 21 20
Products 19.6 19.1 2 2 30 30
Resources 9.1 8.9 2 4 14 14
Total Revenues $ 64.9 $ 64.1 1 % 2 % 100 % 100 %
Type of Work Consulting $ 33.2 $ 33.6 (1) % (1) % 51 % 52 %
Managed Services 31.7 30.5 4 5 49 48
Total Revenues $ 64.9 $ 64.1 1 % 2 % 100 % 100 %
Amounts in table may not total due to rounding.
(1) In the first quarter of fiscal 2025, our Latin America market unit will move from Growth Markets to North America. With this change, North America will become the Americas market and Growth Markets will become the Asia Pacific market.
(2) During the first quarter of fiscal 2024, we revised the reporting of our geographic markets for the movement of our Middle East and Africa market units from Growth Markets to Europe, and the Europe market became our EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) geographic market. Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.
Revenues for fiscal 2024 increased 1% in U.S. dollars and 2% in local currency compared to fiscal 2023. During fiscal 2024, revenue growth in local currency was strong in Growth Markets and modest in North America, while EMEA was flat. We experienced local currency revenue growth that was very strong in Health & Public Service, solid in Resources and modest in Products, partially offset by a decline in Communications, Media & Technology and a modest decline in Financial Services. Revenue growth in local currency was solid in managed services, partially offset by a slight decline in consulting during fiscal 2024. The business environment is competitive, and we continue to experience lower pricing across the business. We define pricing as contract profitability or margin on the work that we sell .
In our consulting business, revenues for fiscal 2024 decreased 1% in both U.S. dollars and local currency compared to fiscal 2023. The decline in consulting revenue in local currency in fiscal 2024 was driven by a decline in EMEA, partially offset by modest growth in Growth Markets and slight growth in North America. Our consulting revenue continues to be driven by helping our clients accelerate their reinvention, in particular technology, data, and AI led digital transformations. This includes moving to the cloud, embedding security and responsible AI across the enterprise and leveraging our change capabilities to help our clients build new skills and drive the successful adoption of new processes and technologies. In addition, clients continue to be focused on initiatives designed to deliver cost savings and supply chain and operational resilience, as well as projects to accelerate growth and improve customer experiences. While we continue to experience demand for these services, we are seeing a slower pace and level of client spending, especially for smaller contracts with a shorter duration.
In our managed services business, revenues for fiscal 2024 increased 4% in U.S. dollars and 5% in local currency compared to fiscal 2023. Managed services revenue growth in local currency in fiscal 2024 was driven by very strong growth in Growth Markets, solid growth in EMEA and modest growth in North America. We continue to experience growing demand to assist clients with application modernization and maintenance, cloud enablement and cybersecurity-as-a-service. In addition, clients continue to be focused on transforming their operations through technology, data and AI, and leveraging our digital platforms and talent to drive productivity and operational cost savings.
As we are a global company, our revenues are denominated in multiple currencies and may be significantly affected by currency exchange rate fluctuations. While a significant portion of our revenues are in U.S. dollars, the majority of our revenues are denominated in other currencies, including the Euro, Japanese yen and U.K. pound. There continues to be volatility in foreign currency exchange rates. Unfavorable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates have had and could in the future have a material effect on our financial results. If the U.S. dollar weakens against other currencies, resulting in favorable currency translation, our revenues, revenue growth and results of operations in U.S. dollars may be higher. If the U.S. dollar strengthens against other currencies, resulting in unfavorable currency translation, our revenues, revenue growth and results of operations in U.S. dollars may be lower. The U.S. dollar strengthened against various currencies during fiscal 2024, resulting in unfavorable currency translation and U.S. dollar revenue growth that was approximately 1% lower than our
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Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 39
revenue growth in local currency for the year. Assuming that exchange rates stay within recent ranges, we estimate that our fiscal 2025 revenue growth in U.S. dollars will be approximately 1.5% higher than our revenue growth in local currency.
People Metrics
Utilization
Workforce
Annualized Voluntary Attrition
92%
774,000+
13%
up from 91% in fiscal 2023
compared to approximately 733,000 as of August 31, 2023
consistent with fiscal 2023
Utilization for fiscal 2024 was 92%, up from 91% in fiscal 2023. We hire to meet current and projected future demand. We proactively plan and manage the size and composition of our workforce and take actions as needed to address changes in the anticipated demand for our services and solutions, given that compensation costs are the most significant portion of our operating expenses. Our workforce, the majority of which serves our clients, increased to approximately 774,000 as of August 31, 2024, compared to approximately 733,000 as of August 31, 2023. The year-over-year increase in our workforce reflects people added in connection with acquisitions and hiring for specific skills.
For fiscal 2024, attrition, excluding involuntary terminations, was 13%, consistent with fiscal 2023. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, annualized attrition, excluding involuntary terminations, was 14%, consistent with the third quarter of fiscal 2024. We evaluate voluntary attrition, adjust levels of new hiring and use involuntary terminations as a means to keep our supply of skills and resources in balance with changes in client demand.
In addition, we adjust compensation to provide market relevant pay based on the skills of our people and locations where we operate. We also consider a variety of factors, including the macroeconomic environment, in making our decisions around pay and benefits. We strive to adjust pricing as well as drive cost and delivery efficiencies, such as changing the mix of people and utilizing technology, to reduce the impact of compensation increases on our margin and contract profitability.
Our ability to grow our revenues and maintain or increase our margin could be adversely affected if we are unable to: match people and skills with the types or amounts of services and solutions clients are demanding; recover or offset increases in compensation; deploy our employees globally on a timely basis; manage attrition; and/or effectively assimilate new employees.
New Bookings
Fiscal Percent
Increase (Decrease)
U.S.
Dollars Percent
Increase (Decrease)
Local
Currency
(in billions of U.S. dollars) 2024 2023
Consulting $ 37.0 $ 36.2 2 % 3 %
Managed Services 44.2 36.0 23 24
Total New Bookings $ 81.2 $ 72.2 13 % 14 %
We provide information regarding our new bookings, which include new contracts, including those acquired through acquisitions, as well as renewals, extensions and changes to existing contracts, because we believe doing so provides useful trend information regarding changes in the volume of our new business over time. New bookings can vary significantly quarter to quarter depending in part on the timing of the signing of a small number of large managed services contracts. The types of services and solutions clients are demanding and the pace and level of their spending may impact the conversion of new bookings to revenues. For example, managed services bookings, which are typically for multi-year contracts, generally convert to revenue over a longer period of time compared to consulting bookings.
Information regarding our new bookings is not comparable to, nor should it be substituted for, an analysis of our revenues over time. New bookings involve estimates and judgments. There are no third-party standards or requirements governing the calculation of bookings. We do not update our new bookings for material subsequent terminations or reductions related to bookings originally recorded in prior fiscal years. New bookings are recorded using then-existing foreign currency exchange rates and are not subsequently adjusted for foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.
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ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K