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Robert Half revenue up 13%, US leads growth

January 30, 2015

Professional staffing firm Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI) reported revenue rose 12.7% in the fourth quarter to $1.22 billion with much of the growth taking place in the US. Gross margin edged up, and net income rose 25.7%.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing provider’s US operations led growth with US temporary and consulting staffing revenue up 13.8% year over year, and US permanent placement revenue up 20.8%.

Robert Half’s international temporary and consulting staffing operations posted revenue growth of 3.1%, but international permanent placement revenue fell 0.6%.

(US$ thousands) Q4 2014 Q4 2013 % growth
Revenue $1,221,450 $1,083,864 12.7%
Gross margin $500,757 $443,216 13.0%
Gross margin percentage 41.0% 40.9%  
Net income $84,053 $66,885 25.7%

Quote

“Revenue growth has broad-based and extended to both our US and non-US operations," said Chairman and CEO Harold M. Messmer Jr. "The US labor market has strengthened in recent months and skills shortages persist in professional discipline such as accounting and information technology. We are seeing similar trends outside the United States, although growth has been less robust. Employers in the United States added nearly 3 million jobs over the course of 2014, making it the best job year for job growth since 1999. Secular trends continue to shape the demand for interim talent. More and more companies are using temporary and consulting professionals as a permanent part of their human resources mix."

Revenue by segment

(US$ thousands) Q4 2014 Q4 2013 % growth
Accountemps $414,176 $377,735 9.6%
OfficeTeam $241,768 $214,717 12.6%
Robert Half Technology $152,901 $137,224 11.4%
Robert Half Management Resources $144,603 $126,787 14.1%
Robert Half Finance & Accounting $96,718 $85,769 12.8%
Protiviti $171,284 $141,632 20.9%

Revenue growth by geography and temp/perm

    Year-over-year revenue growth rates
    2013   2014
    Q3 Q4   Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Global                   
  Accountemps -0.8% -0.4%   1.7% 6.5% 10.1% 9.6%
  OfficeTeam 2.5% 3.0%   4.7% 9.1% 14.1% 12.6%
  Robert Half Technology 11.8% 14.1%   9.3% 7.8% 11.0% 11.4%
  Robert Half Management Resources -0.2% 0.7%   5.6% 12.4% 18.9% 14.1%
                 
  Temporary and consulting staffing 1.9% 2.7%   4.1% 8.2% 12.5% 11.3%
  Permanent placement staffing 7.9% 6.6%   11.1% 13.8% 16.0% 12.8%
                 
United States                
  Temporary and consulting staffing 4.5% 5.0%   5.9% 9.3% 13.2% 13.8%
  Permanent placement staffing 13.8% 11.0%   12.6% 15.8% 21.8% 20.8%
                 
International                
  Temporary and consulting staffing -5.9% -4.2%   -1.2% 4.6% 10.4% 3.1%
  Permanent placement staffing -0.8% 0.0%   8.6% 10.6% 6.3% -0.6%

Full-year results

(US$ thousands) 2014 2013 % growth
Revenue $4,695,014 $4,245,895 10.6%
Gross margin $1,922,916 $1,723,092 11.6%
Gross margin percentge 41.0% 40.6%  
Net income $305,928 $252,192 21.3%

Guidance

Robert Half estimated first-quarter revenue of between $1.95 billion and $1.245 billion, up from $1.084 billion in the first quarter of 2014.

Share price and market cap

Shares in Robert Half fell 0.29% in early morning trading to $59.04. The company had a market cap of $7.91 billion, according to Yahoo!