Hudson Global Posts Near 12 Percent Revenue Increase

November 2, 2018 – Hudson Global Inc. / (NASDAQ:HSON) posted second quarter revenues of $17.1 million, up 11.6 percent in constant currency, from a year ago.
By region, Hudson Asia Pacific led the charge, recording a revenue gain of 23 percent and Hudson Europe experienced revenue growth of 13 percent. Hudson America, meanwhile, struggled, posting a revenue decrease of 11 percent.
The New York-based recruiting firm posted a net loss of $0.9 million, or three cents per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss of $0.8 million, or three cents per basic and diluted share, for the third quarter of 2017. The results in the third quarter of 2017 included net loss from continuing operations of $0.5 million and net loss from discontinued operations of $0.4 million related to the sale of the recruitment and talent management businesses.
“Similar to last quarter, the Asia Pacific region produced the strongest growth while year over year comparisons for the Americas and Europe continued to be impacted by a large global contract that ended in the third quarter of 2017,” said Jeff Eberwein, CEO of Hudson Global. “This year has been one of significant transition for Hudson with tremendous focus on creating our own structures, systems and processes following our separation from the legacy businesses we sold in March. Importantly, we have also focused intensively this year on reducing the corporate costs left over from these legacy businesses.”
“We have begun to invest in technology, sales personnel, and marketing in order to drive profitable growth in 2019 and beyond,” Mr. Eberwein said. “In addition to these internal investments, we may also begin to look at profitable, bolt-on acquisition opportunities in 2019 after we have finished building the platform for our new company.”
Looking to the future, the firm expressed excitement about its pipeline of potential new business opportunities. “As the only publicly-traded, pure-play RPO company, Hudson is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the fast-growing, global RPO market,” said Mr. Eberwein.
New Leadership
Hudson Global recently appointed its chairman, Mr. Eberwein, as the firm’s new CEO. He replaced Stephen A. Nolan. Richard K. Coleman Jr., Hudson’s compensation committee chairman, is now chairman of the board. Mr. Eberwein has more than 20 years of Wall Street experience and has valuable public company and financial expertise gained through his employment history and directorships. Most recently, he served as CEO of Lone Star Value Management, an investment firm he founded in 2013.
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“Since Jeff joined Hudson’s board in 2014, he has set the strategic direction for the board and the company and implemented a series of changes to improve governance and enhance stockholder value,” said Mr. Coleman. “He has the strategic and financial experience and leadership skills to serve as our next CEO. As the company focuses on its global RPO business, we have confidence that Jeff will drive performance and execution at Hudson and ensure we continue Hudson’s legacy of exceptional customer service.”
Recent Shareholder Activity
While it remains to be seen how shareholders will react, Hudson’s stock has seen a wave of activity in recent months. Zacks Investment Research recently raised shares of Hudson Global from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating. In addition, major shareholder Sagard Capital Partners L.P. sold 1.1 million shares of the stock in a recent transaction. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.80, for a total value of $1.98 million. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Currently, just 12.2 percent of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in Hudson: Renaissance Technologies boosted its position by 14.8 percent since the start of the year. Renaissance now owns 248,096 shares, valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 31,996 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management raised its holdings in Hudson Global by 2.3 percent. Geode now owns 95,731 shares, valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 2,119 shares during the period. And Frontier Investment Management Co. increased its position by .8 percent in the second quarter. Frontier now owns 521,901 shares valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 4,269 shares during the period. Institutional investors currently own just under 75 percent of the company’s stock.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media