KFY - Korn Ferry Announces Second Quarter Fiscal 2023 Results of Operations

Highlights

• Korn Ferry reports fee revenue of $727.8 million in Q2 FY’23, an increase of 14% (20% at constant currency) from Q2 FY’22 and a sequential increase of 5% (7% on a constant currency basis) from Q1 FY'23.
• Net income attributable to Korn Ferry was $73.5 million in Q2 FY’23, while diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.38 and $1.43 in Q2 FY’23, respectively.
• Operating income and Adjusted EBITDA were $119.6 million (operating margin of 16.4%) and $131.1 million (Adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.0%), respectively, in Q2 FY’23.
• The Company repurchased 622,500 shares of stock during the quarter for $33.1 million.
• Declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share on December 7, 2022, which is payable on January 13, 2023 to stockholders of record on December 21, 2022.
• During the second quarter, the Company completed the acquisition of Infinity Consulting Solutions, which is included in the Professional Search & Interim segment.

Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY), a global organizational consulting firm, today announced second quarter fee revenue of $727.8 million. In addition, second quarter diluted earnings per share was $1.38 and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.43.

“During the fiscal second quarter we generated $728 million in fee revenue, up 14% year-over-year and up 20% at constant currency. Our diluted earnings per share and Adjusted earnings per share were $1.38 and $1.43, respectively, and our Adjusted EBITDA was $131 million, representing an 18% margin,” said Gary D. Burnison, CEO, Korn Ferry.

“It’s clear that the global economy has been in transition for several months. We are seeing change on every front – from over a decade of high liquidity and historically low interest rates to changes in Central Bank policies, significant shifts in global trade lanes and persistent inflationary pressures. In response, companies and our clients will undoubtedly have to continue adjusting their organizational and workforce strategies to tomorrow, which is opportunity for Korn Ferry.”

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The Company reported fee revenue in Q2 FY’23 of $727.8 million, a year-over-year increase of 14% (up 20% on a constant currency basis) compared to Q2 FY’22. Fee revenue increased in all lines of business except Executive Search which was down about 7% compared to Q2 FY'22. The acquisitions of Lucas Group, Patina and Infinity Consulting Solutions (collectively, the “acquisitions”) which are included in the Professional Search & Interim segment, were a significant factor in the year-over-year increase in fee revenue compared to the year-ago quarter.

Operating margin was 16.4% in Q2 FY’23, compared to 16.2% in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 18.0% in Q2 FY’23, compared to 21.1%, in the year-ago quarter. Net income attributable to Korn Ferry was $73.5 million in Q2 FY’23, compared to $75.8 million in Q2 FY’22 and Adjusted EBITDA was $131.1 million in Q2 FY’23 compared to $134.9 million in Q2 FY’22.

Operating income increased due to the increase in fee revenue as discussed above. Partially offsetting this increase were increases in 1) cost of services expense associated with the acquisitions and 2) compensation and benefits expense primarily due to an increase in headcount, partially offset by a decrease in our deferred compensation liabilities due to market movements.

Adjusted EBITDA decreased due to the factors noted above and a decrease in other income due to a decline in the value of our marketable securities (which are held in trust to satisfy obligations under our deferred compensation plans) due to market movements.

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Fee revenue was $173.1 million in Q2 FY’23 compared to $164.9 million in Q2 FY’22, an increase of $8.2 million or 5% (up 12% on a constant currency basis). Consulting saw growth in Organization Design, Change Management, and Workforce Sales Compensation, partially offset by a decline in Assessment & Succession.

Adjusted EBITDA was $31.1 million in Q2 FY’23 with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.0% compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $30.1 million with an associated margin of 18.2%, respectively, in the year-ago quarter. This increase in Adjusted EBITDA resulted from the increase in fee revenue outlined above, partially offset by an increase in compensation and benefits expense and cost of services expense, driven by higher salaries and related payroll taxes.

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Fee revenue was $94.3 million in Q2 FY’23 compared to $88.6 million in Q2 FY’22, an increase of $5.7 million or 6% (up 15% on a constant currency basis). The increase in fee revenue continues to be driven by Development offerings as companies invest in sales effectiveness tools and training programs to build their commercial team capabilities to maximize revenue growth.

Adjusted EBITDA was $27.5 million in Q2 FY’23 with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 29.2% compared to $28.6 million and 32.2%, respectively, in the year-ago quarter. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin was due to 1) an increase in general and administrative expenses and 2) an increase in compensation and benefits expense, driven by higher salaries and related payroll taxes associated with the increased investment made on product development initiatives and an increase in the commercial salesforce. This was partially offset by higher fee revenue.

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Fee revenue was $218.4 million and $235.5 million in Q2 FY’23 and Q2 FY’22, respectively, a year-over-year decrease of $17.1 million or 7% (down 4% on a constant currency basis). The decrease in fee revenue was driven by a decrease in the number of the engagements billed. Fee revenue decreased in North America and Asia and was partially offset by higher fee revenue in EMEA and Latin America.

Adjusted EBITDA was $54.5 million in Q2 FY’23 with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 25.0% compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $66.1 million and Adjusted EBITDA margin of 28.1%, respectively, in the year-ago quarter. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA was due to the decrease in fee revenue discussed above, partially offset by a decrease in compensation and benefits expense due to a decrease in performance-related bonus expense.

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Fee revenue was $134.7 million in Q2 FY’23, an increase of $80.1 million or 147% (up 159% on a constant currency basis), compared to the year-ago quarter. Interim fee revenue and permanent placement fee revenue increased by $55.3 million and $24.9 million, respectively, primarily due to the acquisitions.

Adjusted EBITDA was $32.5 million in Q2 FY’23 with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 24.1% compared to $21.8 million and 40.0%, respectively, in the year-ago quarter. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was due to the higher fee revenue discussed above. Partially offsetting this increase were increases in compensation and benefits expense driven by higher salaries and related payroll taxes and commission expense driven by increases in fee revenue and headcount associated with the acquisitions. Also partially offsetting the increase in Adjusted EBITDA was an increase in cost of services expense due to the recently acquired interim businesses.

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Fee revenue was $107.3 million in Q2 FY’23, an increase of $11.4 million or 12% (up 19% on a constant currency basis), compared to the year-ago quarter. RPO fee revenue increased due to the wider adoption of RPO services in the market in combination with our differentiated solutions.

Adjusted EBITDA was $16.0 million in Q2 FY’23 with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 14.9% compared to $14.4 million and 15.1%, respectively, in the year-ago quarter. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was due to the higher fee revenue discussed above. Partially offsetting this were increases in compensation and benefits expense driven by higher salaries and related payroll taxes driven by increases in headcount associated with increased levels of fee revenue.

Outlook

Despite the continuing strength in new business trends coming out of Q2 FY’23, economic factors like global inflation, rising interest rates, and escalating geo-political tensions present a level of risk and uncertainty that is difficult to quantify. In light of such uncertainty, we are in the process of developing a plan (the "Plan") to reduce our operating costs by $45 million to $55 million. We expect to implement the Plan in the third quarter, but do not anticipate any meaningful run-rate savings to begin until the fourth quarter. With this in mind and assuming anticipated charges and savings related to the Plan, no new major pandemic related lockdowns or further changes in worldwide geopolitical conditions, economic conditions, financial markets or foreign exchange rates, on a consolidated basis:

• Q3 FY’23 fee revenue is expected to be in the range of $660 million and $690 million; and
• Q3 FY’23 diluted earnings per share is expected to range between $0.40 to $0.66.

On a consolidated adjusted basis:

• Q3 FY’23 and Q4 FY'23 Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be in the range of 14% to 15%.

• Q3 FY’23 adjusted diluted earnings per share is expected to be in the range from $0.88 to $1.00.

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Earnings Conference Call Webcast

The earnings conference call will be held today at 12:00 PM (EST) and hosted by CEO Gary Burnison, CFO Robert Rozek and SVP Finance Gregg Kvochak. The conference call will be webcast and available online at ir.kornferry.com . We will also post to this 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, 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. Statements that refer to or are based on estimates, forecasts, projections, uncertain events or assumptions, including statements relating to expected demand for our products and services. 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 the ultimate magnitude and duration of any pandemic or outbreaks, and related restrictions and operational requirements that apply to our business and the businesses of our clients, and any related negative impacts on our business, employees, customers and our ability to provide services in affected regions, global and local political or economic developments in or affecting countries where we have operations, competition, changes in demand for our services as a result of automation, the dependence on and costs of attracting and retaining qualified and experienced consultants, dislocation in the labor markets and increasing competition for highly skilled workers, our ability to maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain key employees, maintaining our brand name and professional reputation, impact of inflationary pressures on our profitability, potential legal liability and regulatory developments, the portability of client relationships, consolidation of the industries we serve, changes and developments in government laws and regulations, evolving investor and customer expectations with regard to environmental, social and governmental matters, currency fluctuations in our international operations, risks related to growth, alignment of our cost structure, restrictions imposed by off-limits agreements, reliance on information processing systems, cyber security vulnerabilities, changes to data security, data privacy and data protection laws, limited protection of our intellectual property, our ability to enhance and develop new technology, our ability to develop new products and services, the utilization and billing rates of our consultants, dependence on third parties for the execution of critical functions, our ability to successfully recover from a disaster or other business continuity problems, changes in our accounting estimates/assumptions, treaties, or regulations on our business and our company, impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets, deferred tax assets that we may not be able to use, our indebtedness, expansion of social media platforms, seasonality, ability to effect acquisition and integrate acquired businesses, including Infinity Consulting Solutions and employment liability risk. For a detailed description of risks and uncertainties that could cause differences, 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 and impairment of right of use assets net of income tax effect;
• Adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share, adjusted to exclude integration/acquisition costs, impairment of fixed assets and impairment of right of use assets, 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;
• 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 and impairment of right of use assets, 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 and 3) impairment of right of use assets due to the decision to terminate and sublease some of our offices. 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.