KFY Shareholder/Stockholder Letter Transcript:
'HAN
KORN F E R RY
BE MORE THAN
ANNU
UAL
ANNUAL
REPORT
REPO
ORT
2024
2024
4
DEARSHAREHOLDERS,
SHAREHOL
DEAR
The
last four
years the equivalent
equivalent length
length of
of a
a university
university education have
education have brought
brought about
about more
more change
change
The last
four years the
than
we have
have seen
seen in
in our
our lifetime.
Just imagine,
imagine, walking
walking on
on a
a campus
campus as
as a
a freshman
freshman in
in early
early 2020,
2020,
than we
lifetime. Just
only
to be
be sent
sent home then
home then having
having to
to learn
learn new
new ways
ways to
study, to
to live,
live, to
to work,
work, to
to relate
relate to
others.
only to
to study,
to others.
It s
parallel to
to the
the parable
parable of
of recent
It's aa parallel
recent
times
testament to
to the
the shifts
shifts
times and
and aa testament
not
only in
in humanity,
humanity, but
but also
also in
in
not only
organizations
the world.
world.
organizations throughout
throughout the
Through
all of
of these
these changes,
changes, Korn
Korn Ferry
Ferry
Through all
has
remained
resolved
in
our
purpose
has remained resolved in our purpose
to
enable people
and organizations
organizations to
to
to enable
people and
Be
More Than.
Than. And
And none
none of
of us
us know
know our
our
Be More
potential
unless we
we are
are given
opportunity.
potential unless
given opportunity.
Potential it s
all about
about tomorrow.
tomorrow.
Potential it's all
Opportunity
is all
all about
about today.
today.
Opportunity is
Today,
Korn Ferry's
Ferry s top
top line
line is
is more
more
Today, Korn
than
30% higher
higher than
than immediately
immediately
than 30%
before
pandemic, which
which at
at that
that
before the
the pandemic,
time
was already
already an
an all-time
all-time high.
high.
time was
Fiscal
Year 2024
Highlights
Fiscal Year
2024 Highlights
Earnings
and profitability
were strong
Earnings and
profitability were
strong
in
FY 24. Our
Our fee
fee revenue
revenue for
for the
the fiscal
fiscal
in FY'24.
year
was $2.76
$2.76 billion,
billion, with
with an
an adjusted
year was
adjusted
EBITDA
margin of
of almost
15%.
EBITDA margin
almost 15%.
We
continued to
to anchor
anchor our
our
We continued
firm
around aa well-balanced
well-balanced
firm around
strategy
with a
a diverse
diverse slate
slate
strategy with
of
solutions, IP
IP and
and talented
talented
of solutions,
Ferry colleagues
colleagues to
to
ft K o rKorn
n Ferry
our clients
clients unleash
unleash the
the
, 4 h e l help
p our
of their
10 4 p o t potential
e n t i a l of
their people.
people.
N.
f is
/1 11:All'
ir
1
The
following highlights
highlights affirm
affirm the
the
The following
effectiveness
strategy:
effectiveness of
of our
our strategy:
Trained
and developed
developed more
more
Trained and
than
6 million
million professionals and
professionals and
than 6
put
million people
people to
to work.
work.
put 11 million
World-class
data includes:
includes: nearly
nearly 7
7
World-class data
billion
data points,
points, more
more than
than 100
100 million
billion data
million
assessments,
more than
than 10,000
10,000 success
success
assessments, more
profiles
information
profiles and
and compensation
compensation information
on
nearly 30
30 million
million professionals
professionals
on nearly
covering
30,000 organizations.
organizations.
covering 30,000
Consulting,
complemented by
by Digital,
Digital,
Consulting, complemented
generated
solid performance
performance
generated very
very solid
during
the year comprising
year comprising almost
almost
during the
40%
our total
total fiscal
fiscal year
year fee
fee revenue.
40% of
of our
revenue.
Our
RPO business
business now
now represents
represents 13%
13%
Our RPO
of
our
total
fiscal
year
fee
revenue.
of our total fiscal year fee revenue.
A
more than
than $500
$500 million
million professional
professional
A more
search,
interim and
and transition
transition
search, interim
management
essentially did
did
management capability
capability essentially
not
exist for
us just
just four
four years
years ago.
ago.
not exist
for us
Our
Marquee and
and Regional
Regional Accounts
Accounts
Our Marquee
represent
about 37%
37% of
of our
total fee
fee
represent about
our total
revenue,
with growth
growth that
that generally
generally
revenue, with
outpaces
the rest
rest of
of the
company
outpaces the
the company
and
almost
all
these
clients
use at
at
and almost all these clients use
least
three of
of our
business lines.
lines.
least three
our business
More
importantly, we
we are
are accelerating
accelerating the
the
More importantly,
trajectory
of thousands
thousands of
and
trajectory of
of companies
companies and
countless
people. That's
That s why
why organizations
organizations
countless people.
across
the
globe
are
turning
to
Korn
across the globe are turning to Korn
Ferry,
including the
the LA28
LA28 Olympic
Olympic and
and
Ferry, including
Paralympic
Games Organizing
Organizing Committee,
Committee,
Paralympic Games
which
is entrusting
entrusting our
our firm
to recruit
recruit key
key
which is
firm to
roles
and
scale
thousands
of
employees
roles and scale thousands of employees
and
volunteers to
to help
help deliver
deliver a
a worldworldand volunteers
class
experience at
at the
the Games.
Games.
class experience
It s
also interesting
interesting to
to note
note that
that
It's also
fundamentally
the journey
journey of
of our
firm
fundamentally the
our firm
and
the foundation
foundation of
of all
all our
our offerings
offerings
and the
began
with IP
IP and
science. Looking
Looking ahead,
ahead,
began with
and science.
we
believe the
of our
we believe
the power
power of
our proprietary
proprietary
data
and knowledge
knowledge will
will be
be even
even more
more
data and
important
to harness
harness and
and further
further activate.
activate.
important to
In
the fiscal
fiscal year
year ahead,
ahead, we
we are
are putting
putting
In the
a
premium on
on capturing,
capturing, analyzing,
analyzing, and
and
a premium
leveraging
this
knowledge
for
individuals
leveraging this knowledge for individuals
and
organizations to
to Be
Be More
More Than.
Than.
and organizations
In
everything we
we do,
do, we
we are
are striving
striving to
to
In everything
work
more independently
independently as
as a
a firm
firm
work more
scaling
our data,
data, insights,
and offerings.
offerings. We
We
scaling our
insights, and
are
striving
to
create
a
more
horizontal
firm
are striving to create a more horizontal firm
that
can capture
capture the
the potential
potential ahead
ahead of
us.
that can
of us.
Indeed,
as the
the premier
premier organizational
organizational
Indeed, as
consulting
firm, we
we are
are a
a company
company that
consulting firm,
that
continues
to work
work to
to acclimate,
acclimate, innovate,
innovate,
continues to
and
align our
our business
business to
to help
help our
our clients
and align
clients
perform
and transform.
transform. A
A company
company at
at
perform and
the
intersection of
of business
business strategy
strategy and
and
the intersection
talent
strategy to
to drive
drive performance.
performance.
talent strategy
I d
like to
thank our
our colleagues
colleagues around
around
I'd like
to thank
the
globe for
all they
they do,
do, and
and our
our clients
clients
the globe
for all
for
their trust
and belief
belief in
in our
our firm.
for their
trust and
firm.
II am
am also
also grateful
grateful to
to our
our leadership
leadership
team
and board
board of
of directors
for their
team and
directors for
their
unwavering
commitment to
to Korn
Korn Ferry.
Ferry.
unwavering commitment
We
are all
all part
of something
something truly
truly special,
special,
We are
part of
embodying
our spirit
spirit to
to Be
Be More
More Than.
Than.
embodying our
2
2
PERFORMANC
PERFORMANCE
HIGHLIGHTS
HIGHLIGHTS
FS
I CALY
EAR2024
2024
FISCAL
YEAR
Our
fiscal 2024
2024 performance
performance reflects
reflects the
the relevance
the breadth
Our fiscal
relevance of
of our
our strategy,
strategy, the
breadth of
of our
our
offerings,
and the
the reach
reach and
and relevance
relevance of
Korn Ferry
Ferry brand.
brand. Thanks
Thanks to
to the
the passion
passion
offerings, and
of the
the Korn
and
performance of
colleagues, we
we have
have concluded
concluded the
the year
year with
strong results.
results.
and performance
of our
our colleagues,
with strong
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t o update
our forward-lo
forward--ll o
kking
i n g statements.
document
forward-looking
that
is based
based on
on current
current estimates
estim
es
mates and
and forecasts.
foreca
ec sts
s s. Actual
Actu
tual
a results
result
res
u tss could
ult
coul
coul
o dd
iffe
ffer m
ate
eria
ally
lly..
that is
differ
materially.
3
DIVERSE MIX
DIVERSE
MIX OF
OF FEE
FEE
REVENUE ($
REVENUE
($ MILLIONS)
MILLIONS)
Professional
Search
Professional Search
and
Interim
and Interim
$541
$54]
Consulting
Consulting
$695
$695
Digital
Digital
$367
$367
Executive
Search
$806
RPO $354
FY'24 ADJUSTED
FY'24
ADJUSTED EBITDA
EBITDA MARGIN'
MARGIN1
13.7
% 14.0
% 15.2% 16.3 %
13.1%
14.0%
Q1
Q2
02
0
3Q3
0
4Q4
14.8%
%a
' . ., _ !**,$24
ADJUSTED
ADJUSTED
DILUTED
EARNINGS2
DILUTED EARNINGS2
RETURNED TO
RETURNED
TO
SHAREHOLDERS
SHAREHOLDERS
$101MILLION
MILLION
$4.28
$4.28PPER
ERSHARE
SHARE $107
4
4
8/9/2024 Letter Continued (Full PDF)