Robert Half Posts Three Percent Revenue Gain Citing COVID-19 Impact on Results
April 28, 2020 – Robert Half International Inc./(NYSE:RHI) posted first quarter revenues of $1.507 billion, up three percent from the same period a year ago beating Wall Street’s expectations. This compares to year-ago revenues of $1.47 billion. 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 $117 million, or $1.01 per share, compared to the prior year’s first quarter earnings of $115.2 million, or 95 cents per share.
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“While our financial results through the first half of March were strong and above plan, the second half of March began to reflect the COVID-19 impact on our business, particularly our staffing operations,” said M. Keith Waddell, president and CEO. “Our Robert Half Technology and Robert Half Management Resources divisions turned in solid results in the first quarter, notwithstanding this.”
Robert Half posted global staffing revenues of $1.21 billion, a decline 0.3 percent year over year on a reported basis and one percent on an as-adjusted basis. This decline was mainly due to the negative impact of COVID-19 on staffing operations. The U.S. staffing revenues of $944 million were down 0.2 percent on an adjusted basis. Non-U.S. staffing revenues were down four percent on an as-adjusted basis to $269 million.
Protiviti revenues were $294 million, an increase of 16.5 percent year over year on a reported basis and 15 percent on an as-adjusted basis. The U.S. and non-U.S. Protiviti revenues increased a respective 20 percent and two percent year over year, on an as-adjusted basis.
“Protiviti had another very strong quarter, posting double-digit, year-on-year revenue gains for the eighth consecutive quarter,” said Mr. Waddell. “Protiviti saw broad strength across its diversified service offerings, including internal audit, technology consulting and regulatory compliance consulting, as well as services provided jointly with staffing.”
Management Change
Robert Half recently appointed Mr. Waddell as its new CEO. He succeeded Harold M. Messmer Jr., who held the position for 33 years. Mr. Messmer, one of the longest serving recruitment chief executives, will continue as executive chairman.
Mr. Waddell is currently vice chairman, president and CFO, having led Robert Half’s finance department for more than 30 years. Paul F. Gentzkow, a 30-year veteran of the company who has served for many years as president and chief operating officer, staffing services, will become president and CEO, staffing services. Lastly, Michael Buckley, a 22-year veteran of the company, will be promoted from executive vice president, treasurer, to executive vice president, CFO. Joseph Tarantino, a veteran of 17 years, will continue as president and CEO of Protiviti, a Robert Half subsidiary.
“Robert Half is fortunate to have great management continuity among our top executives and the experienced leaders of our field operations worldwide, who together average more than 20 years with the company,” said Mr. Messmer. “When I assume my new role as executive chairman next month, I look forward to supporting this outstanding team in the future as it continues to grow the Robert Half business.”
Moving forward, Mr. Messmer will devote significant time to board matters as well as growth plans, business strategy and the professional development of the company’s employees throughout the organization.
“We are extraordinarily fortunate that Mr. Messmer will continue as executive chairman and will remain involved in areas that are most important to Robert Half’s continued growth,” said Frederick A. Richman, the company’s lead outside director. “We are equally fortunate that Mr. Waddell will serve as CEO and that we have the benefit of an outstanding team of other executives, most of whom have at least two decades of experience with the company.”
New Director & Product Launch
Robert Half recently elected Julia Coronado to its board of directors. Ms. Coronado is president and founder of MacroPolicy Perspectives, which provides economic research on monetary policy and global macroeconomic developments. A noted financial market commentator and labor expert, she previously served as chief economist for Graham Capital Management, chief economist for North America at BNP Paribas and senior U.S. economist at Barclays Capital in New York.
The Menlo Park, CA-based recruiting company’s Protiviti division also recently launched a cyber-risk quantification as a service offering in alliance with RiskLens, a provider of quantitative cyber risk management software. Through quantitative risk analysis using hard data, the offering enables CIOs and CISOs to answer their board of directors’ questions about the effectiveness of their cybersecurity program with confidence, make better decisions about budgets and technology investments, and assist in meeting regulatory requirements.
“Protiviti’s Cyber Risk Quantification service, powered by the RiskLens Platform, delivers a continual, data-driven assessment of an organization’s current state of cyber risk,” said Andy Retrum, a Protiviti managing director. “Armed with this data, cybersecurity teams are able to better manage risks in business terms, determine if they are investing their cybersecurity budgets in the right areas and if they have sufficient cyber insurance, evaluate ROI and provide meaningful insights to senior leadership and the board.”
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
