Accenture Wednesday said strong gains in its outsourcing and consulting businesses helped it achieve 21% revenue growth in its fiscal third quarter ended May 31 compared with a year ago.

The company's revenue reached $3.7 billion, while net income jumped 59% to $210.4 million.

Accenture saw the most growth during the quarter in its outsourcing business. The company's outsourcing sales increased 37% to $1.4 billion on the strength of major deals with Payless ShoeSource, Danish transportation conglomerate DSV Group, and several other large customers. Consulting revenue grew 13% to $2.3 billion. Schwab Soundview Capital Markets analyst Cindy Shaw says investments Accenture has made in new technology areas, including radio-frequency identification are paying off in customer wins. "These capabilities will drive pricing power and market share gains" for Accenture, Shaw says.

For its fourth quarter, Accenture expects revenue of $3.4 billion to $3.5 billion and earnings per share of between 26 cents and 29 cents.