Korn Ferry Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2025 Results of Operations

Highlights

• Korn Ferry reports Q1 FY'25 fee revenue of $674.9 million, a year-over-year decrease of 3% (down 2% on a constant currency basis).
  • Executive Search fee revenue grew 2% year-over-year (up 3% at constant currency).
  • Fee revenue for Consulting and Digital was flat year-over-year (up 1% and 2%, respectively, at constant currency), continuing to demonstrate stability in a challenging market.
• Net income attributable to Korn Ferry was $62.6 million, while diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.17 and $1.18 in Q1 FY'25, respectively.
• Operating income was $76.1 million and Adjusted EBITDA was $111.2 million.
• Operating margin increased 320bps year-over-year to 11.3%. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 16.5%, a 280bps increase compared to the year-ago quarter, and our fifth consecutive quarter of sequential improvement.
• The Company repurchased 351,250 shares of stock during the quarter for $23.5 million.
• Declared a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share on September 4, 2024, which is payable on October 15, 2024 to stockholders of record on September 19, 2024.

Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY), a global organizational consulting firm, today announced first quarter fee revenue of $674.9 million. In addition, first quarter diluted earnings per share was $1.17 and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.18.

“I am pleased with our first quarter results, as we generated $675 million in fee revenue,” said Gary D. Burnison. “Earnings and profitability increased year over year as we delivered $111 million of Adjusted EBITDA, at a 16.5% margin, which is our fifth consecutive quarter of profitability improvement.

“Our sustained success stems from a balanced approach – from our colleagues and IP to our diversified strategy and broad offerings. As a result, our topline is more than 30 percent higher than before the pandemic, with even greater profitability. During the quarter, Consulting and Digital maintained their positive momentum, with improved growth in Executive Search and stable trends across Professional Search permanent placement and RPO. We are also confident about the future, as evidenced by our capital allocation, which not only included share buybacks but also more than a twofold increase in our quarterly dividend year over year. Moving forward, we will continue to transform the business to enable our clients to Be More Than.”

The Company reported fee revenue in Q1 FY'25 of $674.9 million, a decrease of 3% (down 2% on a constant currency basis) compared to Q1 FY'24. The decrease in fee revenue was primarily due to lower fee revenues in Professional Search & Interim and RPO driven by a decline in demand due to the current economic environment, partially offset by an increase in Executive Search fee revenue.

Operating income was $76.1 million (at an operating margin of 11.3%) in Q1 FY'25, compared to $56.8 million (at an operating margin of 8.1%) in the year-ago quarter, an increase of 320bps. Net income attributable to Korn Ferry was $62.6 million in Q1 FY'25, compared to $46.6 million in Q1 FY'24. Adjusted EBITDA was $111.2 million in Q1 FY'25 compared to $95.7 million in Q1 FY'24. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 16.5% in Q1 FY'25, an increase of 280bps.

Operating income, margin, and net income attributable to Korn Ferry increased as a result of strong cost management, coupled with the lower cost of services expense compared to the year-ago quarter. These decreases in expenses were partially offset by the decrease in fee revenue discussed above.

Adjusted EBITDA and margin increased due to the same factors above but excluded integration/acquisition costs.

Fee revenue was $167.9 million in Q1 FY'25 compared to $168.1 million in Q1 FY'24, essentially flat (up 1% on a constant currency basis) compared to Q1 FY'24.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 16.3% compared to Q1 FY'24 to $29.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin in the quarter increased year-over-year by 250bps to 17.5%. These increases resulted primarily from higher average bill rates and greater consultant and execution staff productivity.

Fee revenue was $88.2 million in Q1 FY'25 compared to $88.0 million in Q1 FY'24, essentially flat year-over-year and up 2% on a constant currency basis. Subscription and license fee revenue in the quarter increased 5% year-over-year.

Adjusted EBITDA was $26.6 million in Q1 FY'25 compared to $24.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin in the quarter increased year-over-year by 260bps to 30.2%. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin was mainly due to improved consultant productivity and strong cost management.

Fee revenue was $208.6 million in Q1 FY'25, an increase of $3.4 million or 2% compared to Q1 FY'24 (up 3% on a constant currency basis). The increase in fee revenue was primarily driven by a 4% increase in the number of engagements billed in our North America region.

Adjusted EBITDA was $49.4 million in Q1 FY'25 compared to $42.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 300bps to 23.7% in Q1 FY'25. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to higher consultant productivity and strong cost management.

Fee revenue was $121.7 million in Q1 FY'25, a decrease of 14% in both actual and constant currency compared to the year-ago quarter, due primarily to lower demand in the current economic environment.

Adjusted EBITDA was $25.7 million in Q1 FY'25 compared to $24.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased year-over-year by 400bps to 21.1%. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to a higher average bill rate in Interim, increased consultant productivity in Permanent Placement and strong cost management.

Fee revenue was $88.5 million in Q1 FY'25, a decrease of $7.2 million or 8% (down 7% on a constant currency basis) compared to the year-ago quarter. RPO fee revenue decreased due to moderation in the hiring volume in the existing base of clients due to the current economic environment.

Adjusted EBITDA was $12.5 million in Q1 FY'25 compared to $10.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 320bps to 14.1% in Q1 FY'25. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin both resulted from greater execution staff productivity and strong cost management.

Outlook

Assuming worldwide geopolitical conditions, economic conditions, financial markets and foreign exchange rates remain steady, on a consolidated basis:

• Q2 FY’25 fee revenue is expected to be in the range of $655 million and $685 million; and
• Q2 FY’25 diluted earnings per share is expected to range between $1.11 to $1.23.

On a consolidated adjusted basis:

• Q2 FY’25 adjusted diluted earnings per share is expected to be in the range from $1.14 to $1.26.

Earnings Conference Call Webcast

The earnings conference call will be held today at 12:00 PM (EDT) and hosted by CEO Gary Burnison, CFO Robert Rozek, SVP Business Development & Analytics Gregg Kvochak and VP Investor Relations Tiffany Louder. The conference call will be webcast and available online at ir.kornferry.com. We will also post to the investor relations section of our website earnings slides, which will accompany our webcast, and other important information, and encourage you to review the information that we make available on our website.

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm. We help clients synchronize strategy and talent to drive superior performance. We work with organizations to design their structures, roles, and responsibilities. We help them hire the right people to bring their strategy to life. And we advise them on how to reward, develop, and motivate their people. Visit kornferry.com for more information.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release and our conference call that relate to our outlook, projections, goals, strategies, future plans and expectations, including statements relating to expected demand for and relevance of our products and services, expected results of our business diversification strategy, and other statements of future events or conditions are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Words such as “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “goals”, “estimates”, “guidance”, “may”, “should”, “could”, “will” or “likely”, and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Such statements are based on current expectations; actual results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected or desired because of a number of risks and uncertainties that are beyond the control of Korn Ferry. The potential risks and uncertainties include those relating to global and local political and or economic developments in or affecting countries where we have operations, such as inflation, interest rates, global slowdowns, or recessions, competition, geopolitical tensions, shifts in global trade patterns, changes in demand for our services as a result of automation, dependence on and costs of attracting and retaining qualified and experienced consultants, impact of inflationary pressures on our profitability, our ability to maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retaining key employees, maintaining our brand name and professional reputation, potential legal liability and regulatory developments, portability of client relationships, consolidation of or within the industries we serve, changes and developments in government laws and regulations, evolving investor and customer expectations with regard to environmental, social and governance matters, currency fluctuations in our international operations, risks related to growth, alignment of our cost structure, including as a result of recent workforce, real estate, and other restructuring initiatives, restrictions imposed by off-limits agreements, reliance on information processing systems, cyber security vulnerabilities or events, changes to data security, data privacy, and data protection laws, dependence on third parties for the execution of critical functions, limited protection of our intellectual property ("IP"), our ability to enhance, develop and respond to new technology, including artificial intelligence, our ability to successfully recover from a disaster or other business continuity problems, employment liability risk, an impairment in the carrying value of goodwill and other intangible assets, treaties, or regulations on our business and our Company, deferred tax assets that we may not be able to use, our ability to develop new products and services, changes in our accounting estimates and assumptions, the utilization and billing rates of our consultants, seasonality, the expansion of social media platforms, the ability to effect acquisitions and integrate acquired businesses, resulting organizational changes, our indebtedness, and those relating to the ultimate magnitude and duration of any pandemic or outbreaks. For a detailed description of risks and uncertainties that could cause differences from our expectations, please refer to Korn Ferry’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Korn Ferry disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains financial information calculated other than in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”). In particular, it includes:

• Adjusted net income attributable to Korn Ferry, adjusted to exclude integration/acquisition costs, impairment of fixed assets, impairment of right-of-use assets and restructuring charges, net of income tax effect;
• Adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share, adjusted to exclude integration/acquisition costs, impairment of fixed assets, impairment of right-of-use assets and restructuring charges, net of income tax effect;
• Constant currency (calculated using a quarterly average) percentages that represent the percentage change that would have resulted had exchange rates in the prior period been the same as those in effect in the current period; and
• Consolidated and Executive Search Adjusted EBITDA, which is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, further adjusted to exclude integration/acquisition costs, impairment of fixed assets, impairment of right-of-use assets and restructuring charges, net when applicable, and Consolidated and Executive Search Adjusted EBITDA margin.

This non-GAAP disclosure has limitations as an analytical tool, should not be viewed as a substitute for financial information determined in accordance with GAAP, and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of the Company��s results as reported under GAAP, nor is it necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures that may be presented by other companies.

Management believes the presentation of non-GAAP financial measures in this press release provides meaningful supplemental information regarding Korn Ferry’s performance by excluding certain charges that may not be indicative of Korn Ferry’s ongoing operating results. These non-GAAP financial measures are performance measures and are not indicative of the liquidity of Korn Ferry. These charges, which are described in the footnotes in the attached reconciliations, represent 1) costs we incurred to acquire and integrate a portion of our Professional Search & Interim business, 2) impairment of fixed assets associated with the decision to terminate and sublease some of our offices, 3) impairment of right-of-use assets due to the decision to terminate and sublease some of our offices and 4) restructuring charges, net to realign our workforce with the Company's business needs and objectives. The use of non-GAAP financial measures facilitates comparisons to Korn Ferry’s historical performance. Korn Ferry includes non-GAAP financial measures because management believes they are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its evaluation of Korn Ferry’s ongoing operations and financial and operational decision-making. Adjusted net income attributable to Korn Ferry, adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share and Consolidated and Executive Search Adjusted EBITDA, exclude certain charges that management does not consider on-going in nature and allows management and investors to make more meaningful period-to-period comparisons of the Company’s operating results. Management further believes that Consolidated and Executive Search Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors because it is frequently used by investors and other interested parties to measure operating performance among companies with different capital structures, effective tax rates and tax attributes and capitalized asset values, all of which can vary substantially from company to company. In the case of constant currency percentages, management believes the presentation of such information provides useful supplemental information regarding Korn Ferry's performance as excluding the impact of exchange rate changes on Korn Ferry's financial performance allows investors to make more meaningful period-to-period comparisons of the Company’s operating results, to better identify operating trends that may otherwise be masked or distorted by exchange rate changes and to perform related trend analysis, and provides a higher degree of transparency of information used by management in its evaluation of Korn Ferry's ongoing operations and financial and operational decision-making.

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