Revenue's Up, But BearingPoint Remains Cautious About The FutureRevenue's Up, But BearingPoint Remains Cautious About The Future

Professional and IT-services firm BearingPoint Inc. said Thursday that acquisitions helped it achieve a 36% jump in revenue for its second quarter ending Dec. 31, 2002. However, officials cautioned investors that future sales may come in at the low end of estimates.

For the quarter, BearingPoint reported sales of $807.9 million, compared with $593.2 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Net income increased to $16.4 million, or 9 cents per share, up from $6.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

Despite the growth, BearingPoint and other service providers continue to struggle with tepid demand by large companies for IT services. Company officials forecast fourth-quarter earnings of 14 cents to 17 cents a share on revenue in the range of $800 million to $860 million. However, they noted that actual earnings could be on the low end of that forecast due to the possibility that customers may postpone or cancel contracts.

BearingPoint, formerly KPMG Consulting, last year acquired a number of business units and about 1,600 staffers from Andersen Business Consulting. But early this year, it said it would be forced to cut about 450 to 550 staffers--about 3% of its total workforce--in response to market demand. The company will take a charge of $17 million to $23 million in the current quarter to cover the cost of the cutbacks.