Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Andrew Nicholas: And then I wanted to ask on restructuring or distressed financial advisory in commercial. I think it’s a hard environment to maybe manage headcount in that space, a long overdue restructuring cycle at least in my opinion, I’m just kind of wondering how much you’re leaning into headcount growth there because it’s been a couple of quarters now of that being what I think is an outperformer. So if you could just kind of speak to momentum there and hiring plans? And then also from a profitability perspective, and I realize any single quarter can be lumpy. But over any kind of longer-term time frame, is restructuring going to be a positive kind of mix component of margin expansion there? Is that higher margins than the strategy and digital businesses there? Or how should we think about that evolving mix impacting margins?

Mark Hussey: Andrew, it’s Mark. In terms of the hiring environment, you’re absolutely right. The cycle right now is hot. You see that across all the competitors in the space. And so there is a strong demand for headcount that is qualified in those skill sets across the industry. Having said that, the size and scale of our business, and really, I would characterize the kind of culture that we have and the kind of people that are attracted to work in our environment is a differentiator for us. So we’ve been able to continue to add people at the levels that have enabled us to sustain what is a right now, very hot sales cycle. And so we feel good about what that trajectory looks like over time just because it’s a smaller part of our business, but it’s done really, really well.

And I would just add in terms of your question to margins, I’ll let John add commentary, but just in general, it is definitely a contributor to profitability. And for us, obviously, the kind of rates that you realize in this part of the cycle and the environment when things are really troubled and there’s need for very rapid actions puts us in a very strong position within the marketplace. And the range of capabilities we have in that business, which is not just consulting and advisory, but the investment banking capabilities that we have in special situations also positions us very well to be able to capitalize on the full range of opportunities in the market. But John, why don’t you speak to mix and its contribution as well.

John Kelly: Yes. No, Mark, I agree with what you said. It’s definitely one of our stronger margin businesses in the entire portfolio across segments. So when that business is performing well, that’s a positive contributor from a margin perspective. So as Mark said, we’ll continue to see robust demand there, continue to kind of lean into that demand with headcount growth. So we’re excited about the prospects for that part of the business.

Andrew Nicholas: And maybe just one quick follow-up if I could squeeze in. I think last quarter, you called out a favorable adjustment of I think it was $16 million in healthcare. Was there anything kind of lumpy or one-time in results that is worth calling out or that I might have missed in the prepared remarks?

Mark Hussey: No, Andrew. There really wasn’t this quarter anything significant to note in that regard. There was mid-single digit million dollars of performance-based fee adjustments in healthcare, but I probably — particularly at the scale that we’re at now, I’d probably consider that to be more of a normal course thing. But other than that, there really wasn’t anything [ we’d be ] able to call out.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Kevin Steinke of Barrington Research Associates. [Operator Instructions] Seeing no more questions in queue, I’d like to turn the call back to Mr. Hussey.

Mark Hussey: Thank you so much for spending time with us this afternoon. We look forward to speaking with you again in February when we announce our fourth quarter results and announce our 2024 earnings guidance. Have a good afternoon.

Operator: That concludes today’s conference call. Thank you, everyone, for your participation.

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