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2019 Letter to Shareholders

Leading with Value

From our Chief Executive Officer

“We delivered on our commitments to create value for our clients, our people, our shareholders and the communities in which we live and work.”

— JULIE SWEET, Chief Executive Officer

Our financial report

We delivered another year of outstanding financial results in fiscal 2019, driving superior shareholder value.

Twelve months ended August 31, 2019

Revenues
$43.2B

An increase of 8.5 percent in local currency and 5 percent in US dollars from fiscal 2018. Includes $28 billion from digital, cloud and security services—up about 20 percent in local currency

New Bookings
$45.5B

Broad-based and strong across the business, with approximately 65 percent in digital, cloud and security services

Diluted Earnings Per Share
$7.36

A 9 percent increase from $6.74 on an adjusted basis in fiscal 2018, after excluding $0.40 in charges related to tax law changes

Operating Margin
14.6%

An expansion of 20 basis points from fiscal 2018

Free Cash Flow
$6.0B

Defined as operating cash flow of $6.6 billion net of property and equipment additions of $599 million

Cash Returned to Shareholders
$4.6B

Defined as cash dividends of $1.9 billion plus share repurchases of $2.7 billion

Comparison of cumulative total return

August 31, 2014–August 31, 2019
Accenture vs. S&P 500 Stock Index and S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Index

The performance graph shows the cumulative total shareholder return on our Class A shares for the period starting on August 31, 2014, and ending on August 31, 2019, which was the end of fiscal 2019. This is compared with the cumulative total returns over the same period of the S&P 500 Stock Index and the S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Index. The graph assumes that, on August 31, 2014, $100 was invested in our Class A shares and $100 was invested in each of the other two indices, with dividends reinvested on the ex-dividend date without payment of any commissions. The performance shown in the graph represents past performance and should not be considered an indication of future performance.

Index prices as of August 31

Awards and recognition

RECOGNIZED AMONG
FORTUNE’s World’s Most Admired Companies
for 17 consecutive years; ranked No. 1 in IT Services category for six years

RECOGNIZED AMONG
Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies
for 12 consecutive years

RANKED NO. 1 ON THE
Refinitiv Diversity & Inclusion Index
for two consecutive years; included for four consecutive years

RANKED NO. 31 ON
Interbrand’s Best Global Brands
marking 18 consecutive years

RANKED NO. 248 ON
Forbes’ Global 2000
marking 16 consecutive years

RANKED NO. 298 ON
FORTUNE’s Global 500
marking 18 consecutive years

RANKED NO. 1 ON NEW
Barron’s Most Sustainable International Companies

INCLUDED ON
Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America and FTSE4GOOD Global Index
for 15 consecutive years

RECOGNIZED ON
CDP’s Climate Change “A List”
and in report for seven consecutive years

RANKED NO. 7 ON
Wall Street Journal’s Management Top 250
marking two consecutive years

INCLUDED ON
FORTUNE’s Change the World
for three years

RECEIVED A PERFECT SCORE ON
Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index
each year since 2008

RANKED NO. 2 ON
Business Today/PeopleStrong’s Best Companies to Work For in India
for two consecutive years; included for eight consecutive years

RANKED AMONG
The Sunday Times Best 25 Big Companies to Work For
marking four consecutive years

RANKED AMONG
FORTUNE’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in the US
marking 11 consecutive years

Additional information

Stock listing

Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACN.

Available information

Our website address is accenture.com. We use our website as a channel of distribution for company information. We make available free of charge on the Investor Relations section of our website (investor.accenture.com) our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). We also make available through our website other reports filed with or furnished to the SEC under the Exchange Act, including our proxy statements and reports filed by officers and directors under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act, as well as our Code of Business Ethics. Financial and other material information regarding Accenture is routinely posted on and accessible at investor.accenture.com. We do not intend for information contained in this letter or on our website to be part of the Annual Report on Form 10-K. This letter and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2019, together constitute Accenture’s annual report to security holders for purposes of Rule 14a-3(b) of the Exchange Act.

 

Accenture discloses information about “the New”—digital, cloud and security services—to provide additional insights into the company’s business. Revenues for the New are approximate, require judgment to allocate revenues for arrangements with multiple offerings and may be modified to reflect periodic changes to the definition of the New.

Trademark references

Rights to trademarks referenced herein, other than Accenture trademarks, belong to their respective owners. We disclaim proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

Forward-looking statements and certain factors that may affect our business

We have included in this letter “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act relating to our operations, results of operations and other matters that are based on our current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections. Words such as “will,” “expect,” “believe” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict.

 

Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in these forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and other factors that might cause such differences, some of which could be material, include, but are not limited to, the factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q (available through the Investor Relations section of our website at investor.accenture.com) under the sections entitled “Risk Factors.” Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this letter or as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update them.

Reconciliation of non-GAAP measures

This letter contains certain non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) measures that our management believes provide our shareholders with additional insights into Accenture’s results of operations. The non-GAAP measures in this letter are supplemental in nature. They should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to net income as indicators of company performance, to cash flows from operating activities as measures of liquidity, or to other financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations of this non-GAAP financial information to Accenture’s financial statements as prepared under GAAP are included in this letter.

 

All amounts throughout this letter are stated in US dollars, except where noted.

 

Download materials

2019 LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS
10-K FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019
CEO LETTER AND 10-K FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019