Huron consulting group announces first quarter 2011 financial results
Chicago--(business wire)--huron consulting group inc. (nasdaq: hurn): revenues increased 11.9% to $143.0 million for q1 2011 compared to $127.7 million in q1 2010. diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for q1 2011 rose 46.2% to $0.19 compared to $0.13 in q1 2010. adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, a non-gaap measure, rose 52.4% to $0.32 in q1 2011 compared to $0.21 in q1 2010. average number of full-time billable consultants(1) totaled 1,148 for q1 2011 compared to 1,080 for q1 2010. average number of full-time equivalent professionals(4) totaled 1,078 for q1 2011 compared to 992 in the same period last year. company affirms full year 2011 revenue guidance in a range of $580.0 million to $620.0 million. huron consulting group inc. (nasdaq: hurn), a leading provider of business consulting services, today announced financial results for the first quarter ended march 31, 2011. "huron’s performance in the first quarter of 2011 reflects improved strength in our health and education consulting segment and the continued solid performance of our legal consulting segment,” said james h. roth, chief executive officer and president, huron consulting group. "the financial, political, and regulatory challenges that are on the front page each day continue to create an environment that is favorable to our business. we remain confident that we are well-positioned to strategically and operationally help our clients navigate through the uncertainties impacting their businesses.” “we are also seeing the early benefits of the many steps we took over the last several quarters to focus the company on the growth of our business. as a result, huron’s performance metrics have improved, our utilization rates are higher, and we are aggressively hiring in areas where we have strong indications of demand for our services. we remain optimistic about the opportunities across all of our businesses,” added roth. first quarter 2011 results the following information is reported on a “continuing operations” basis unless otherwise noted. revenues for the first quarter of 2011 were $143.0 million, an increase of 11.9% compared to $127.7 million for the first quarter of 2010. the company's first quarter 2011 operating income was $11.6 million, an increase of 56.5% compared to $7.4 million in the first quarter of 2010. net income from continuing operations rose 47.7% to $4.0 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2011 compared to $2.7 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, for the same period last year. net income was $4.1 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 61.3% compared to $2.5 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, for the same period last year. first quarter 2011 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("ebitda")(5) rose 34.2% to $17.4 million, or 12.2% of revenues, compared to $13.0 million, or 10.1% of revenues, in the comparable quarter last year. in addition to ebitda in evaluating the company’s financial performance, management uses non-gaap financial measures, which exclude the effect of the following items (in thousands): adjusted ebitda(5) rose 43.9% to $19.7 million, or 13.8% of revenues, in the first quarter of 2011, compared to $13.7 million, or 10.7% of revenues, in the comparable quarter last year. adjusted net income(5) from continuing operations was $6.7 million, or $0.32 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2011 compared to $4.3 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, for the comparable period in 2010. the average number of full-time billable consultants(1) was 1,148 in the first quarter of 2011 compared to 1,080 in the same quarter last year. full-time billable consultant utilization rate was 78.0% during the first quarter of 2011 compared with 66.4% during the same period last year. average billing rate per hour for full-time billable consultants was $224 for the first quarter of 2011 compared to $238 for the first quarter of 2010. the average number of full-time equivalent professionals(4) totaled 1,078 in the first quarter of 2011 compared to 992 for the comparable period in 2010. operating segments huron’s results reflect a portfolio of service offerings focused on helping clients address complex business challenges. the company has three operating segments: health and education consulting; legal consulting; and financial consulting, representing 63.7%, 26.1%, and 10.2% of year-to-date total revenues, respectively. financial results by segment are included in the attached schedules and in huron’s forthcoming form 10-q filing for the quarter ended march 31, 2011. credit facility on april 19, 2011, huron announced it has entered into a new five-year $350 million senior secured credit facility consisting of a $200 million term loan and a $150 million revolving line of credit. the new credit facility, which has a maturity date of april 14, 2016, refinances the company’s existing credit facility previously set to mature in february 2012. in addition, the new credit facility allows for an option to increase the revolving line of credit by up to $50 million. interest on borrowings under the new credit facility is payable, at the option of the company, at either a “base rate” or a “eurocurrency rate” as those terms are defined in the credit agreement, in each case plus an applicable margin based on the company’s financial covenant ratios. borrowings under the new credit facility may be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital requirements, capital expenditures and acquisitions, subject to limitations. outlook for 2011 based on currently available information, the company affirms guidance for full year 2011 revenues before reimbursable expenses in a range of $580.0 million to $620.0 million. the company also anticipates ebitda in a range of $94.5 million to $104.5 million, adjusted ebitda in a range of $101.5 million to $111.5 million, gaap diluted earnings per share in a range of $1.45 to $1.70, and non-gaap adjusted diluted earnings per share in a range of $1.85 to $2.10. first quarter 2011 webcast the company will host a webcast to discuss its financial results tomorrow, april 26, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. eastern time (8:00 a.m. central time). the conference call is being webcast by thomson and can be accessed at huron consulting group’s website at http://ir.huronconsultinggroup.com. a replay will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the webcast and for 90 days thereafter. about huron consulting group huron consulting group helps clients in diverse industries improve performance, comply with complex regulations, reduce costs, recover from distress, leverage technology, and stimulate growth. the company teams with its clients to deliver sustainable and measurable results. huron provides services to a wide variety of both financially sound and distressed organizations, including leading academic institutions, healthcare organizations, fortune 500 companies, medium-sized businesses, and the law firms that represent these various organizations. learn more at www.huronconsultinggroup.com. use of non-gaap financial measures(5) in evaluating the company’s financial performance and outlook, management uses ebitda, adjusted ebitda, adjusted ebitda as a percentage of revenues, adjusted net income from continuing operations and adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, which are non-gaap measures. management believes that such measures, as supplements to operating income, net income from continuing operations and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations and other gaap measures are useful indicators for investors. these useful indicators can help readers gain a meaningful understanding of our core operating results and future prospects without the effect of non-cash or other one-time items and the company’s ability to generate cash flows from operations that are available for taxes, capital expenditures, and to repay debt. investors should recognize that these non-gaap measures might not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. these measures should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for or superior to, any measure of performance, cash flows or liquidity prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the united states. statements in this press release, including the information incorporated by reference herein, that are not historical in nature, including those concerning the company’s current expectations about its future requirements and needs, are “forward-looking” statements as defined in section 21e of the securities exchange act of 1934, as amended (the “exchange act”) and the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. forward-looking statements are identified by words such as “may,” “should,” “expects,” “provides,” “anticipates,” “assumes,” “can,” “meets,” “could,” “intends,” “might,” “predicts,” “seeks,” “would,” “believes,” “estimates” or “continues”. risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could impact the company’s forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to (i) the restatement, (ii) the securities and exchange commission investigation with respect to the restatement and the related purported private shareholder class action lawsuit and derivative lawsuits, (iii) the request by the united states attorney’s office for the northern district of illinois for certain documents, (iv) final approval of the proposed settlement of the purported class action lawsuit related to the restatement, and (v) the share price of the shares of our common stock included as a portion of the settlement consideration at the time of issuance. in addition, these forward-looking statements reflect our current expectation about our future requirements and needs, results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements, including, without limitation, that our business continues to grow at the current expectations with respect to, among other factors, utilization rates, billing rates, and the number of revenue-generating professionals; that we are able to expand our service offerings; that we successfully integrate the businesses we acquire; that existing market conditions continue to trend upward; that we will receive final approval of the proposed settlement of the purported class action lawsuit related to the restatement; and the share price of the shares of our common stock included as a portion of the settlement consideration at the time of issuance. these statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, among others, those described under “item 1a. risk factors” in our annual report on form 10-k for the full year ended december 31, 2010 and in our quarterly report on form 10-q for the period ended march 31, 2011 that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any anticipated results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. march 31, direct costs and reimbursable expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization operating expenses: basic 2011 2010 march 31, sale of business (*) cash and cash equivalents presented herein includes $1.0 million of cash and cash equivalents classified as discontinued operations as of march 31, 2010. huron consulting group inc. segment operating results and other operating data (unaudited) three months ended march 31, percentincrease(decrease) huron consulting group inc. segment operating results and other operating data (continued) (unaudited) three months ended march 31, (1) consists of our full-time professionals who provide consulting services and generate revenues based on the number of hours worked. (2) utilization rate for our full-time billable consultants is calculated by dividing the number of hours all our full-time billable consultants worked on client assignments during a period by the total available working hours for all of these consultants during the same period, assuming a forty-hour work week, less paid holidays and vacation days. (3) average billing rate per hour for our full-time billable consultants is calculated by dividing revenues for a period by the number of hours worked on client assignments during the same period. (4) consists of consultants who work variable schedules as needed by our clients, as well as contract reviewers and other professionals who generate revenues primarily based on number of hours worked and units produced, such as pages reviewed and data processed. also includes full-time employees who provide software support and maintenance services to our clients. huron consulting group inc. reconciliation of net income from continuing operations to adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (5) (in thousands) (unaudited) three months ended march 31, 2010 — huron consulting group inc. reconciliation of net income from continuing operations to adjusted net income from continuing operations (5) (in thousands) (unaudited) three months ended march 31, (5) in evaluating the company’s financial performance, management uses earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“ebitda”), adjusted ebitda, adjusted ebitda as a percentage of revenues, adjusted net income from continuing operations, and adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, which are non-gaap measures. our management uses these non-gaap financial measures to gain an understanding of our comparative operating performance (when comparing such results with previous periods or forecasts). these non-gaap financial measures are used by management in their financial and operating decision-making because management believes they reflect our ongoing business in a manner that allows for meaningful period-to-period comparisons. management also uses these non-gaap financial measures when publicly providing our business outlook, for internal management purposes, and as a basis for evaluating potential acquisitions and dispositions. we believe that these non-gaap financial measures provide useful information to investors and others (a) in understanding and evaluating huron’s current operating performance and future prospects in the same manner as management does, if they so choose, (b) in comparing in a consistent manner huron’s current financial results with huron’s past financial results and (c) in understanding the company’s ability to generate cash flows from operations that are available for taxes, capital expenditures, and debt repayment. investors should recognize that these non-gaap measures might not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. these measures should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for or superior to, any measure of performance, cash flows or liquidity prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the united states.
