Zacks.com Features the Following Top Stocks in the Business Services Industry: Accenture, Viisage Technology, Charles River Associates, Hewitt Associates, and Robert Half Int'l

Business Wire, Feb 4, 2005

CHICAGO -- Favorable trends could lift the business services industry in 2005, so investors may want to focus on their core objective of generating profit and outsource the heavy lifting to the All Star analysts. Read about Accenture (NYSE:ACN), Viisage Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VISG), Charles River Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI), Hewitt Associates (NYSE:HEW) and Robert Half International, Inc. (NYSE:RHI). Discover the full story at Zacks.com http://at.zacks.com/?id=96

What Do The All Stars Recommend:

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) is a leading provider of management and technology consulting services and solutions. On February 2nd, the company announced the signing of a 10-year, $575 million business process outsourcing (BPO) and transformation contract with BT for human resource administration services. The new contract is one of the largest renewals of an HR BPO contract in the world. For its fiscal first quarter, net revenues advanced 14% overall, as outsourcing increased 15% and consulting moved forward 14%. The company said its performance reflects the ability to execute its strategy of helping clients become high-performance businesses. The company decided to raise its expectations for both net revenue and earnings per share for the full fiscal year.

Viisage Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VISG) is a leader in the emerging field of biometrics technology and in providing digital identification systems and solutions. Viisage is a small but growing company that saw revenues of $19.91 million in the third quarter, marking a 97% surged from a year-earlier. Earnings per share broke even compared to a year-ago loss. The company increased its guidance for 2004, and now expects annual revenue of $66 million to $68 million, instead of $60 million to $63 million, and EBITDA between $11.5 million and $12.5 million, rather than $11 million to $12 million. One of the company's major accomplishments during the quarter was the launch of its Viisage PROOF(TM) 1.0 product.

Charles River Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI) is an economic and business consulting firm that applies analytic techniques and in-depth industry knowledge to complex engagements for a range of clients. Last month, Charles River Associates reported fiscal fourth quarter net income of 42 cents per diluted share on revenue of $58.3 million, compared to last year's 28 cents on revenue of $39 million. The company experienced strong growth across almost all of its litigation and business consulting segments, led especially by its Competition and Finance practices. Charles River Associates said fourth quarter results reflect the execution of its corporate growth strategy, which combines steady organic growth with strategic acquisitions that strengthen its service offerings or expands its geographic reach.

Hewitt Associates (NYSE:HEW) is a leading global provider of human resources outsourcing and consulting services. Hewitt Associates signed a 15-year contract with Rockwell Automation last month to provide HR business process outsourcing services. The company will provide workforce administration, payroll, health and welfare and defined benefit services to Rockwell Automation's 15,000 U.S. employees. Hewitt Associates will announce its fiscal first quarter results today. In November, the company posted a solid fiscal fourth quarter with growth across all of its major lines of business, putting it on solid footing for fiscal 2005. Core earnings in the quarter increased to 36 cents per diluted share from 33 cents in the year-ago period. That result topped the consensus by almost 3%. Net revenues increased 9% to $574.6 million.

Robert Half International, Inc. (NYSE:RHI) is the world's largest specialized provider of temporary and permanent personnel in the fields of accounting and finance. Robert Half International said all of its operations performed well in the fourth quarter, as net income rose to 28 cents per share from the prior year's 3 cents. The result also beat the consensus by about 8%. Revenues reached $754.2 million, compared to $517.7 million. The company said 17% to 20% of its consolidated revenues related directly to Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance work, with the balance of revenues reflecting organic growth of more than 20% on a year-over-year basis. Furthermore, its Protiviti subsidiary achieved sequential revenue growth of more than 20% in every quarter in 2004.

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