Robert Half Revenues Up 8.5 Percent As Analytics Drive Growth

February 4, 2016 – Robert Half International Inc./(NYSE:RHI) posted full year revenues of $5.09 billion, up 8.5 percent from a year ago. The company posted fourth quarter revenues of $1.30 billion, an increase of 6.8 percent from the same period last year.

Revenue growth was driven by a buoyant American jobs market as well as strong results from its global consulting division, Protiviti, which grew 13.9 percent.

For the year, the company reported profit of $357.8 million, or $2.69 per share. In the fourth quarter, Robert Half posted earnings of $93.4 million, or 71 cents per share. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 70 cents per share.

“Demand for our professional staffing and consulting services remained strong in the fourth quarter, fueled by a healthy U.S. job market and low unemployment in numerous professional occupations, as well as a more positive economic backdrop in many of our non-U.S. markets,” said Harold M. Messmer Jr., chairman and CEO of Robert Half. “We saw year-over-year revenue growth across the board in our staffing and consulting operations, both in the United States and abroad.”

This was the company’s 23rd straight quarter of double-digit net income and earnings-per-share percentage growth on a year-over-year basis. “Unlevered return on equity was 37 percent,” said Mr. Messmer.

During the quarter, the company paid $27 million to its shareholders through a dividend of 20 cents per share. Robert Half also repurchased 1.4 million shares for $67 million.

In October, the company’s board approved the share repurchase of an additional 10 million shares of common stock. There are approximately 10.4 million shares available for repurchase under the board approved stock repurchase plan.

Also during the quarter, Robert Half’s Protiviti division acquired the assets of Decision First Technologies (DFT), a thought-leader specializing in business intelligence and SAP solutions. DFT becomes part of Protiviti’s data management and advanced analytics solution group in a move that will provide CFOs and CIOs access to faster and more actionable information to manage their business processes and risks.

“The addition of DFT’s talent and business creates a synergy of services that will deliver a deeper level of expertise and increase Protiviti’s ability to equip its clients with the information and processes needed to effectively manage their business and risks globally,” said  Protiviti global services EVP James Pajakowski. “We focus on multiple ERP products for our clients, and this acquisition is a significant addition to our SAP practice.”

The use of workforce data analytics has been on the rise, and human resource professionals say they are spending more time learning it and adapting to how they can use it for competitive advantage.

Randstad Sourceright’s 2016 ‘Talent Trends Report’ found strong and growing use of talent and workforce analytics, with 73 percent of respondents using this data to create more efficient workforce planning, 63 percent for more accurate mapping and addressing of skills gaps and 56 percent for identifying high-potential employees for development.

In fact, keeping pace with evolving technologies that will enhance workforce productivity and performance is now one of the top trends talent acquisition leaders say is impacting the future of work in the next five to 10 years.

According to the 2016 SilkRoad ‘State of Talent Management’ report, executives will increasingly push to use analytics and data science to predict workforce needs and identify skills gaps.

“HR leaders are just beginning to leverage new digital tools that are being developed, allowing them to capitalize on the power of talent management analytics,” said Hunt Scanlon Media founding CEO Scott A. Scanlon. “Everyone is intensely getting into the space, from McKinsey & Co., Accenture and Sibson Consulting, to Korn Ferry Hay, Spencer Stuart, and a host of other leadership solutions providers.”

Hunt Scanlon analysts are now forecasting talent management analytics as an outperforming, high growth market throughout the recruiting sector. “Digital staffing business models are being adopted at rates we’ve not seen previously,” said Mr. Scanlon.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief, Hunt Scanlon Media