Korn Ferry executive search revenue rises in fiscal Q1
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Executive search fee revenue rose at Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) driven by results in the Americas even as fee revenue fell in the company’s RPO and “professional search and interim” segments in its fiscal first quarter ended July 31. The Los Angeles-headquartered global firm noted RPO and pro search were affected by reduced demand in the current economic environment. Overall Korn Ferry fee revenue fell 2% year over year in constant currency to $674.9 million.
“During the quarter, consulting and digital maintained their positive momentum, with improved growth in executive search and stable trends across professional search permanent placement and RPO,” CEO Gary Burnison said in a press release.
Revenue by Business Line
Consulting fee revenue rose 1% in constant currency to $167.9 million with an increase in average bill rate even as the number of consultants fell to 1,663 at the end of the quarter from 1,855 at the end of the year-ago quarter.
Digital fee revenue rose 2% in constant currency to $88.2 million with subscription and license fee revenue rising to $34.1 million from $32.5 million. The division provides a number of digital products.
Executive search fee revenue rose 3% in constant currency to $208.6 million. Korn Ferry reported North American fee revenue rose 5.7% year over year on a reported basis, while it rose 14.0% in Latin America. On the other hand, fee revenue in Europe, the Middle East and Africa edged down 1.7%. In the Asia Pacific region, fee revenue fell 16.1%.
Professional search and interim fee revenue fell 14% in constant currency to $121.7 million. The company cited lower demand caused by the current economic environment. This division includes perm and interim placements of middle and upper management.
RPO fee revenue fell 7% year over year in constant currency to $88.5 million. It was also impacted by the current economic environment as hiring volume declined.
Korn Ferry - Q1 2025
(US$ thousands) | Q1 2025 | Q1 2025 | % change | % constant currency |
Fee revenue | 674,946 | 699,189 | -3.5% | -2% |
Reimbursed expenses | 7,815 | 7,073 | 10.5% | - |
Total revenue | 682,761 | 706,262 | -3.3% | - |
Net income | 64,256 | 47,185 | 36.2% | - |
Fee Revenue by Segment
(US$ thousands) | Q1 2025 | Q1 2025 | % change | % constant currency |
Consulting | 167,870 | 168,088 | -0.1% | 1% |
Digital | 88,180 | 87,986 | 0.2% | 2% |
Executive search | 208,635 | 205,234 | 1.7% | 3% |
Professional search and interim | 121,741 | 142,179 | -14.4% | 14% |
RPO | 88,520 | 95,702 | -7.5% | -7% |
Executive Search Fee Revenue by Geography
(US$ thousands) | Q1 2025 | Q1 2025 | % change | % constant currency |
North America | 134,752 | 127,498 | 5.7% | 6% |
Europe, the Middle East and Africa | 45,981 | 46,776 | -1.7% | -1% |
Asia Pacific | 20,579 | 24,539 | -16.1% | -14% |
Latin America | 7,323 | 6,421 | 14.0% | 24% |
Guidance
Korn Ferry forecast second-quarter revenue of between $655 million and $685 million, which represents a year-over-year decrease of between 2.7% and 7.0%.
Share price
Shares in Korn Ferry closed down 4.67% on Sept. 5 to $67.96. They were 9.75% below their 52-week high.