Accenture has more weapons in its arsenal to battle these economic difficulties

Dirk Godsey, JP Morgan analyst

Analysts blamed the downturn on reduced demand for technology consulting services, one of Accenture's key activities, as well as losses on the company's investments.

Accenture said it absorbed a one-off $90m charge during the period to reflect a drop in the value of some of those investments.

Shares down, but revenues up

Accenture's shares were marked 3.7% lower at $26.27 in early trade on Wall Street as investors absorbed the news.

However, analysts said the company has weathered the economic downturn better than most of its competitors, and is well positioned to cash in on a recovery.

"[Accenture] has more weapons in its arsenal to battle these economic difficulties," said Dirk Godsey, an analyst at J.P. Morgan. "[The company] is holding up better than its peers as a result of its global diversification and the overall breadth of its services."

Investors were cheered by a jump in total revenues, which were up by nearly 6% on the year at $2.99bn thanks to strong growth in demand for outsourcing services.

Outsourcing - where companies contract out basic office services to other providers in order to cut costs - has boomed during the year-long global economic downturn.

On track

The company added that it is on track to hit analysts' forecasts for the next three-month period.

"We are succeeding in executing our growth strategy," said Joe Forehand, Accenture chairman and chief executive officer.

Accenture, formerly the consulting arm of accountants Arthur Andersen, broke away from its parent company last year.

In August last year, Accenture laid off 1,500 of its 75,000 employees in response to the deteriorating market conditions.