Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Korn Ferry third quarter fiscal year 2023 conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the prepared remarks, we will conduct a question and answer session. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded for replay purposes. We have also made available in the investor relations section of our website at kornferry.com a copy of the financial presentation that we will be reviewing with you today. Before we turn the call over to your host, Mr. Gary Burnison, let me first read a cautionary statement to investors. Certain statements made in the call today, such as those relating to future performance, plans and goals, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Although the company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Actual results in future periods may defer materially from those currently expected or desired because of a number of risks and uncertainties which are beyond the company's control. Additional information concerning such risks and uncertainties can be found in the release relating to this presentation and in the periodic and other reports filed by the company with the SEC, including the company's annual report for fiscal year 2022 and the company's soon-to-be-filed quarterly report for the quarter ended January 31st, 2023. Also, some of the comments today may reference non-GAAP financial measures such as constant currency amounts, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA.
Additional information concerning these measures, including reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, is contained in the financial presentation and earnings release relating to this call, both of which are posted in the investor relations section of the company's website at www.kornferry.com. With that, I'll turn the call over to Gary Burnison. Please go ahead, Gary.
Hey, thanks, Gregg. Good afternoon, everybody. Thanks for joining us. Number one, I'm very proud of our 3rd quarter performance, particularly in light of the macroeconomic environment. Given our scale and the depth and breadth of our IP data and content, we are incredibly well-positioned to enable our clients to navigate an economy in transition. Our strategy is working. We've built synergistic businesses around executive search that are generating more durable fee revenues. We're gonna continue to prioritize investment into larger, faster-growing, less cyclical markets that set our firm and our clients up for success. As an example, the recent addition of Salo now brings our interim services to be more than 10% of our firm's revenue on a pro forma basis. This wasn't even a business for us, one year ago.
Yeah, this might be the most anticipated downturn ever, but this is also a transitory time. Like others in the past, it also brings opportunity. It's a proving ground for the efficiency of our strategy, the strength of our culture, the resilience of our colleagues, and the potency of the Korn Ferry brand. With that, Bob, I'll turn it over to you.
Great. Thanks, Gary, good afternoon or good morning, everyone. You know, our results in the third quarter continue to provide proof that our growth strategy is working. For instance, excuse me, we continue to demonstrate the ability to drive top-line synergies between our solutions. You know, as an example, our recent acquisitions in the interim space, which we believe provides real outsized opportunities for growth. They have created almost 700 additional engagement wins, resulting in an incremental $43 million in fee revenue since the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, when we acquired the Lucas Group. This is all through cross-sales between the acquired entities and legacy Korn Ferry. Cross-sales between our other lines of business and both our marquee and regional accounts continued to also perform very well in the quarter.
You know, I recently celebrated my 11th year with Korn Ferry, and one of the reasons why I joined the company was the growth strategy. You know, it really resonated with me, and I believe more deeply in it today. You know, we are relentlessly driving an integrated solutions-based go-to-market strategy, delivering unparalleled client excellence, extending the Korn Ferry brand, advancing Korn Ferry as the premier career destination, and we're pursuing transformational opportunities at the intersection of talent and strategy. This growth strategy served us well back in 2012, excuse me, when I joined, and it continues to do so and even more today. Let me turn the call over to Gregg, who will take you through some of the overall company financial highlights.
Okay. Thanks, Bob. Turning to our third quarter financial results. Fee revenue was $681 million for the quarter, which was flat year-over-year and up 4% at constant currency. By line of business, fee revenue was mixed as demand in executive search and permanent placement professional search moderated from post-pandemic recovery highs while our consulting, digital, RPO, and interim solutions remained relatively stable. Measured year-over-year at constant currency, consulting was up 4%, digital was essentially flat, and RPO was up 9%. Including revenue from recently acquired businesses, professional search and interim was up 33% at constant currency, while executive search was down 9%.
In the third quarter, consolidated new business, excluding RPO, was up 5% year-over-year at constant currency and up approximately 1% at actual rates, with growth in all lines of business except Executive Search. In the third quarter, adjusted EBITDA was $96 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 14%, which was in line with our guidance. Earnings and profitability were impacted by an overall mix shift in fee revenue to lower margin lines of business, investments in fee earner and execution capacity, and to a lesser extent, wage inflation. Adjusted fully diluted earnings per share in the third quarter were $1.01, which was down $0.58, or 36% year-over-year.
Adjusted fully diluted earnings per share excludes an after-tax charge of $42 million or $0.80 per share related to the realignment of our workforce and the impairment of certain real estate assets. GAAP fully diluted earnings per share in the third quarter were $0.21. Our investable cash position remains strong and our current capital deployment continued to be balanced. For all of fiscal 2023, through the end of the third quarter, we repurchased approximately $80 million of our stock, paid cash dividends of approximately $25 million, deployed $99 million for business acquisitions, and funded about $48 million of capital expenditures, most of which was directed towards product development initiatives for our digital business. I'll now turn the call over to Tiffany to review our operating segments in more detail.
Thanks, Gregg. Starting with KF Digital, global fee revenue in the third quarter was $85 million, which was down 6% year-over-year and approximately flat at constant currency. Digital subscription and license fee revenue in the third quarter was $30 million, which was approximately 31% of fee revenue for the quarter. Global new business for KF Digital was $109 million, with $39 million or 35% of the total tied to subscription and license sales. Earnings and profitability in the quarter were impacted by investments in product development initiatives and a slight uptick in SG&A. For consulting, fee revenue in the third quarter grew to $162 million, which was flat year-over-year and up approximately 4% at constant currency. Fee revenue growth was strongest in organizational strategy, which grew 12% versus prior year.
Additionally, global new business for consulting in the third quarter was up 9% year-over-year at constant currency. The professional search and interim business, new business increased 30% in the third quarter versus last year, driven by double-digit strength in North America, aided by the current year acquisitions. Total fee revenue was $118 million, up $28 million or 31% over the same time period. Breaking down the quarter, growth in the interim business was more than enough to offset the expected deceleration in the permanent placement portion of the segment. Interim services fee revenue grew to $53 million from $15 million in the same quarter of the prior year, driven in part by the recent acquisitions of Patina and ICS.
Permanent placement fee revenue declined by $10 million to $65 million year-over-year, down 13% at actual and down 11% at constant currency. Moving on to Recruitment Process Outsourcing. New business for the third quarter was $44 million, and total revenue under contract at the end of the quarter was approximately $837 million. Fee revenue totaled $104 million, which was up $5 million or 5% year-over-year and up approximately 9% at constant currency. The pipeline remains strong as RPO continues to win new business by offering a differentiated tech-enabled solution across a variety of markets and industries. The volume from these new wins offsets some of the volume moderation seen over the last few quarters, positioning the RPO business for strong growth when the moderation in the base abates.
Finally, global fee revenue for Executive Search in the third quarter was $212 million, and as expected, experienced a year-over-year decline of 9% at constant currency compared to the high growth rate enjoyed during the pandemic recovery last year. Growth in EMEA was offset by slower demand in North America and APAC. Global new business in the third quarter for Executive Search was down 13% year-over-year and down approximately 10% at constant currency. I will now turn the call back over to Bob to discuss our outlook for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
Great. Thanks, Tiffany. Assuming no new major pandemic-related lockdowns or further changes in worldwide geopolitical conditions, economic conditions, financial markets, and foreign exchange rates, we expect fee revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 to range from $690 million-$710 million. Our adjusted EBITDA margin to be approximately 14% and our consolidated adjusted diluted earnings per share to range from $0.97-$1.05. Finally, we expect our GAAP diluted earnings per share in the fourth quarter to range from $0.89-$0.98. In closing, we continue to believe strongly that our differentiated and diversified offerings and solutions, the organizational consultancy we have built, will ensure our clients find solutions for their organizational and talent challenges for both the near term as well as in the long term.
With that, we would be glad to answer any questions you may have.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd like to ask a question, please press one then zero on your telephone keypad. You may withdraw your question at any time by repeating the one-zero command. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up the handset before pressing the numbers. Once again, if you have a question, please press one then zero at this time. one moment, please, for your first question. Your first question comes from the line of George Tong from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks. Good morning.
Hey, George.
Can you discuss how new business trends performed in the month of February, and if you have any insight as well into the month of early, March?
Bob, you wanna do that?
Sure. Our new business trends in February, when we closed out the month, George, the new business came in right where we expected it to be. Actually, it was up about 7%, excluding RPO, it was up about 7% year-over-year. RPO had another good, really good month this month. They did close to $45 million in new business in the month of February. For March, it's too early to really, you know, talk about. We've only got three or four days in now, so there's really not much to say. You know, the way that new business comes in, at times, it, you know, tends to come more towards the end of the month. It would be probably too premature to give you any insight into March yet.
Okay. Got it. That's, that's helpful.
Hey, George.
...on the digital side.
Yeah, I was gonna say, the other thing I would add is the patterns that we're seeing in the month of February were exactly what we saw in the third quarter by line of business.
Got it. That's helpful. Switching gears to the digital business. Revenue growth there moderated from 15% year-over-year growth in fiscal 2Q to roughly flat constant currency this quarter, fiscal 3Q. Can you elaborate on the reasons behind this change in growth, when you expect there'll be acceleration in growth, and what the drivers will be for growth acceleration?
Well, I think the, you know, there's a couple short-term drivers and then there's some medium to long-term drivers. The medium to long-term drivers revolve around our success with our tech platform that we're building. That is a set of IP that is anchored around developing technologists, using our developmental library of competencies and the like. That's one factor that will increase the medium to long term. The second is to the extent that we're successful at bringing in partners within our ecosystem to distribute our IP.
The third thing I would mention is that when you look at our sales force within the digital channel, you have to remember that almost 30% of the sales force is relatively new, you know, new in the last, call it six-nine months. It naturally takes time for those people to ramp up. I'd also point out, you know, a shift that we made going back a couple years but really a year and a half ago, is moving that business to a SaaS model. When you look at that and you go back, say, you know, a year and a half ago, the subscription, you know, backlog was probably revenue under contract, was kinda $300 million, now it's moved up to about $350 million.
There's been a massive shift that we've made over the last two to three years in that business from, you know, immediately recognizing revenue to creating a more sustainable business model. You know, you don't necessarily, you know, see that in the revenue, but there's a major transformation happening. The final thing I'd say is that obviously it's an environment where everybody is watching costs, and we saw it in this last quarter in the digital business from some of our technology clients cutting back on some of the things that they were getting from us, particularly around assessment. I think, you know, I think those are the factors that I would look to on both a short and, you know, medium to long-term basis.
Very helpful. Thank you.
Your next question comes from the line of Tobey Sommer from Truist Securities. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning, everyone. This is Jasper Bibb for Tobey. Just two quick clarification questions on the guidance. First, does the 4Q guidance reflect the full impact of the restructuring program on margin? Secondly, how much incremental revenue from Salo is in the guidance?
Bob, why don't you handle the incremental cost?
Sure.
We're expecting for Salo in the quarter, about $30 million of incremental revenue, in the fourth quarter.
Yeah. Then in terms of the guidance, we executed the plan that we talked about on the last earnings call. We spent between, you know, taking out positions and reducing our real estate footprint, we spent, you know, approximately $51 million. We're gonna get somewhere in the $50 million-$55 million range for saves. What we're also forecasting for the fourth quarter is, you know, continued moderation in what I would call the exec search and the professional search perm placement business. That, as you know, is, you know, high yielding in terms of the EBITDA margin for us. As that continues to decline, that'll consume some of the savings.
We're also reinvesting back into the business in terms of, fee earners, and delivery capacity, to meet our client demand, as well as, you know, we're gonna continue to accelerate the investments that we made in or that we're making into digital. So, those will net out. Then as the, perm placement portion of the business, you know, troughs out and then starts to recover, we'll see the margins start to pop up and come back again.
Thanks. That makes sense. Then on the search consultant productivity, down to $1.4 million this quarter, pretty much in line with pre-COVID levels. If demand continues to soften in that segment, how should we think about, you know, managing to a productivity threshold versus keeping capacity for an eventual cyclical rebound?
Right now we're positioned to maintain capacity. When you look at our consulting business, our digital business, and the search businesses, our view is to hold capacity. You know, it really depends on what happens here with the economy. You know, the $1.4 million, obviously if demand falls, that will likely decline. My orientation right now is to maintain capacity.
Got it. Last one for me. I was hoping you could speak to your long-term EBITDA margin targets. You know, do you still think those are feasible, and how should we think about the increased interim exposure via your recent acquisitions, maybe changing the long-term risk margin profile of the business as part of that?
Yeah, it's a great question. I think it. Number one, look, this was a business that didn't exist. During the pandemic, we looked around and said, "How, how is the world gonna change?" You know, professionals wanting more flexibility in their life. With an aging baby boomer population, maybe people that didn't wanna work full-time, but still wanted to contribute, in meaningful ways to society. We very purposefully said, "Let's, you know, let's go into this market." We've taken that now from basically zero, to a run rate now of, you know, of about $320 million-$330 million in the span of 18 months. This will be for sure a $1 billion-dollar business for us. There's no question about it.
You know, as we, as we do that, and we address these bigger markets that, I think have proven over time to be less cyclical than, say, the legacy business of executive search, the margin profile is gonna change. There's no doubt about it. I can have Bob, you know, Bob, you can describe the quantitative impact of that. You know, if we get this business to $1 billion, which we think we can, you know, and everything else were to stay the same, which it's not gonna stay the same, but if it did, you know, you're probably talking 200-300 basis points, I would think, of, you know, of a margin shift. We just, you know, we really are excited about this.
We are seeing incredible levels of cross-referrals, of ways to create deeper meaning, deeper impact with clients. So I do think that overall, much like the strategy, you know, when I started, I mean, this is my 84th earnings call. You know, going back to day one, the entire business was essentially executive search, and now executive search today is 31% of the company. I think what we've demonstrated now is we've, you know, we're building a platform that has more client impact, that changes more people's lives, that enables people and organizations to be more than, and it also provides a much more stable company for shareholders.
You can just see it in the numbers, and you can see it in the new business over the last several months in terms of what's happening, you know, barring some sort of economic disaster. Bob, maybe you could comment on the quantitative aspect of the margin.
Sure. Jasper, when we buy these businesses, you know, they generally come with about, I would say around an 8% EBITDA margin. Our goal as we, you know, go through the integration, as you know, we've got, you know, kind of we've built a company that's kind of plug and play, so we're able to get cost synergies, you know, fairly easily, just by plugging the acquired companies into our network.
Our goal is to take those margins up to, you know, the 12%-15% range, over time. As Gary, you know, alluded to, you know, the trade-off for margin for us is the, you know, the opportunity for growth and the stability that those revenue streams bring, to the organization.
Appreciate the detail there. Thanks for taking the questions, guys.
Your next question comes from the line of Marc Riddick from Sidoti. Please go ahead.
Hey there. Good morning.
Hey, Marc.
I was wondering if you'd talk a little bit about some of the, if there were any changes in particular demand drivers. I'm specifically talking about particular trends that you've noticed, maybe, you know, over the last few months that have sort of changed or shifted. You know, whether it's, you know, from a, you know, from a standpoint of some of the things that were driving demand over the last couple of years, you know, are there any particular areas that have sort of picked up that maybe we haven't been talking about or thinking about? Or maybe some things that have waned a bit, beyond recessionary impacts?
Industrial has certainly been a bright spot, and that's been, you know, that's been a change. When I look year-over-year, industrial is up about 10%. That's, you know, that's certainly good considering it's almost 30% of the company's portfolio. Clearly, you know, going back to, you know, August of last summer, at the end of last summer, you know, with, you know, the move by central banks and particularly the Fed to become more hawkish, you know, companies are clearly looking at their cost. There was this massive upswing after the pandemic in terms of hiring. As you would expect, that is moderated, and that's exactly what we've seen. We've seen moderation in the perm parts of our recruiting business.
You know, wage growth is, you know, it's still at elevated levels. It's probably 6, 7%. People that are jumping jobs are not getting what they were getting coming out of the pandemic. You know, it's more like a 15% uptick in wages. That's, you know, that clearly has moderated, and I would expect that that moderation is gonna continue on the perm side, particularly given the comments yesterday or the day before by the Fed. The RPO business has, like it always has, I mean, it's held up incredibly well. Yes, we've seen some, you know, some degradation of the base business, you know, a kind of a nominal amount. Going back to last fall, it was, you know, around the technology sector.
We've also picked up some just enormous wins, both in the industrial area and in healthcare. Then you look at the consulting and digital business in the quarter on a constant currency basis, you know, consulting was up 9%, new business, and digital was up 6%. It's basically, I mean, it's really playing out as the strategy was designed. I mean, the strategy is absolutely working.
That's really helpful. Thank you. Then I was sort of curious about, it seemed as though we were starting to see a bit of a pickup in business travel and then maybe, you know, starting to see a little bit more face-to-face activity, and, you know, being in front of clients again. I would say it seems as though it's kind of, you know. Now, that might be the recessionary impact, but that's kind of, you know, been a back and forth a little bit. I was wondering if you maybe had any thoughts as to maybe what you're seeing, if clients are doing the face-to-face with you a little bit more. Do you see more of a pickup in travel entertainment going forward? How should we be thinking about that?
Well, the genie is out of the bottle. I think that all of us enjoy the flexibility, that, you know, unfortunately, the pandemic brought about. When this whole thing started, I said, you know, three years ago, I said this thing, you know, travel, all this stuff, it's gonna be, you know, how you're entertained, how you consume, how you produce, it's gonna be about 50% of what it was. Now, it's not 50% of what it was. Clearly, yes, we are seeing, you know, a desire for sure. There's no, there's no substitute for being in person with another human being. But it's not, it's not even at the 50% level, of what it was. You know, I think, I think that's, you know, that's a generational change.
I mean, that could take 5-10 years to truly play out. It's clearly increased over the last several months, but nothing at all like it was. You know, we'll see with, you know, quote, China, you know, setting aside the geopolitical aspect, we'll see what happens with China. You know, it's only been, you know, two, three, four weeks since quote, 'it's opened up.' China has had an enormous drag on, you know, not only multinational companies and the Asia Pacific region, but it also on our business. It's been, you know, it's been as you would expect, it's been a drag on the top line. It could be as much as, you know, $40 million-$50 million a year for us.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Mr. Burnison, it appears there are no further questions.
Okay. Well, we appreciate everybody taking the time to listen. First and foremost, I wanna thank our colleagues all around the world for just an incredible performance. Thanks to Bob and Gregg and Tiffany, and we'll talk to you next time. See ya. Bye-bye.
Ladies and gentlemen, this conference will be available for replay for one week, starting today at 3:00 P.M. Eastern time, running through the day March 15th, 2023, ending at midnight. You may access the AT&T Executive Playback Service by dialing 866-207-1041 and entering the access code