Korn Ferry Shows 25 Percent Decline; Futurestep Down 57 Percent

December 8, 2009 – Korn/Ferry International/(NYSE:KFY) posted revenues of $140.1 million for the second quarter fiscal 2010, a decrease of 24.6 percent from revenues of $189.3 million a year ago. Fee revenue decreased in all regions due to a 20.7 percent decrease in the overall number of engagements billed and a decrease of 2.8 percent in the average fee per engagement billed. The Los-Angeles-based recruiter reported net income of $2.7 million, or six cents a share, compared with earnings of $13.6 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected the company to break even, excluding items, on revenue of $124.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters. Futurestep, the firm’s online recruiting business, also fell, by 57 percent. "We are pleased with the sequential increase in fee revenue of 20 percent, which is double the industry growth rate, during the quarter," said Gary Burnison, CEO. "Although companies continue to maintain lean workforces and the ramp-up for organizational expansion appears long and gradual, the strength of our brand, our systematic approach to client development and service and the caliber of consultants continues to enable us to take market share. Furthermore, we have derived significant benefit from our differentiated model as well as cost reduction initiatives, resulting in an extremely well fortified balance sheet including $261 million in cash and marketable securities."