FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

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Ajay Sabherwal: I actually don’t recollect saying to consulting would be second-half weighted, but we can go back and look at that. It was EBITDA. Did we anticipate deferrals? I mean that could have been EBITDA. Because I don’t think we would have said — there’s nothing that I ever thought that said that on the revenue would be taken. Maybe that would have been deferral. So on the revenue side, absolutely delighted and positively surprised at the revenue number on economic consulting and non-M&A antitrust is the area which has grown. The M&A antitrust is robust, but it’s relatively flat. The non-M&A is what has grown and other areas like arbitration and financial economics. We’re very pleased and made long continue.

James Yaro: Okay. Got you. Yes. I think I guess I misunderstood. I thought you were talking about last quarter about how there could be more the pickup in the second half of the year. But that makes sense. Maybe just the Forensic and Litigation Consulting utilization, which did improve notably in the quarter. Is this related to some of the actions you took last year or because of the large quarter-on-quarter revenue step-up or perhaps both and your aspirations for utilization in that business going forward?

Steve Gunby: Yes, there’s some one-time things in the EBITDA increase there, but the underlying realities of that business are due to two things. One is we have been on — and we’ve had lot of work going on a multiyear basis to strengthen that business. And that started — has shown some progress over time. And that’s continued. And that’s what you see in revenue lines, and those are really good. The other thing is, yes, we tapered back hiring in the second half of the year in a number of segments because our attrition levels were so low in the first half of the year, plus we had started the year higher than we expected in a number of places and so forth. And so — and then the revenue in the second-half of last year was stronger than we thought.

So we’ve gotten, in some places, caught short. I think the head count increase year-on-year on that is not — is dramatically less than the revenue, which, of course, is not sustainable. So — but look, when you have high revenue growth and no head count growth or almost no head count growth, then it all drops. So the bottom line, I think what we believe in all of our businesses that the levels of head count growth we’ve had year-on-year are not sustainable. You can’t drive the sort of revenue growth we aspire to. So we’re going to have to tweak that up, but in FLC and elsewhere. But I think we are seeing — with this some zigs and zags, the progress of what our leadership team has done to strengthen our businesses there.

James Yaro: Thanks for taking my questions.

Steve Gunby: I think that may be all the questions. Thank you all for your attention and continued support for our company. We’re excited about where we are, and we look forward to continuing the conversation with all of you. Thank you.

Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.

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