Robert Half Posts 7.2 Percent Revenue Decline
April 28, 2021 – Robert Half International Inc./(NYSE:RHI) posted first quarter revenues of $1.398 billion, down 7.2 percent from the same period a year ago, surpassing the consensus mark by 3.32 percent. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters. The Menlo Park, CA-based recruiting company recorded net income of $111 million, or $.98 per share, compared to the prior year’s third quarter earnings of $117 million, or $1.01 per share. This beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.80 per share.
“We are extremely pleased that our first quarter results exceeded the high end of our guidance and reflect a broad-based recovery that is well under way,” said M. Keith Waddell, president and CEO of Robert Half. “Protiviti’s revenues grew 35 percent year-on-year, reflecting continued momentum across its wide array of service offerings, including very strong managed solutions with staffing. This is Protiviti’s 14th consecutive quarter of year-on-year revenue gains. Our staffing operations significantly outperformed their historical sequential trends, led by small- and medium-size businesses and permanent placement, which grew 22 percent sequentially.”
“We are experiencing a faster early-cycle recovery than we have seen in the past which positions us well for future growth,” Mr. Waddell said. “As always, the strength of our brands, people, technology and business model will drive our continued success. Our employees have made possible many great accolades, including very recent inclusion on FORTUNE’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For®‘ and Forbes’ ‘America’s Best Employers for Diversity’ lists for 2021. Return on invested capital for the company was 37 percent in the first quarter,” Mr. Waddell said.
Global staffing revenues were $1 billion, a decrease 17.5 percent year over year on a reported and 17.8 percent on an adjusted basis. U.S. staffing revenues of $759 million were down 19.6 percent on a reported and 18.6 percent on an adjusted basis. Non-U.S. staffing revenues declined 10.1% on a reported and 14.8 percent on an adjusted basis to $242 million.
Protiviti, Robert Half’s global consulting division, recorded revenues of $397 million, an increase 35.1 percent year over year on a reported basis and 40.7 percent on an adjusted basis. The U.S. Protiviti revenues of $316 million increased 35.5 percent year over year on a reported basis and 37.1 percent on an adjusted basis.
Protiviti recently acquired Identropy, a security consulting firm that specializes in advisory, implementation and managed services for identity and access management (IAM) and access governance solutions. With this acquisition, Protiviti strengthens its ability to meet the growing need to combat data breaches and provide clients with pragmatic and innovative IAM services.
“Identity has become the new technology perimeter for today’s business technology solutions and digital transformation. Yet, IAM projects are often overly complex and mired in point solutions when a holistic platform solution would serve them better,” said Ron Lefferts, managing director and global leader of technology consulting, Protiviti. “The combination of Identropy and Protiviti’s extensive knowledge and expertise will help corporate security teams that are already stretched thin to simplify, fortify and run their identity programs effectively.”
Looking Ahead
For the second quarter of 2021, Robert Half expects revenues in the range of $1.435 billion to $1.515 billion, the midpoint ($1.475 billion) of which is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.38 billion.
Robert Half shares have added about 30.4 percent since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500’s gain of 10.8 percent.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
