Heidrick & Struggles International Inc (HSII) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Heidrick & Struggles Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that this call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) And now at this time, I would like to turn things over to Ms. Suzanne Rosenberg, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, ma'am.

女士們、先生們，下午好。歡迎參加海德思哲 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，此通話正在錄音。 （操作員指示） 現在這個時候，我想把事情交給投資者關係副總裁 Suzanne Rosenberg 女士。請繼續，女士。

Thank you, and welcome to our 2023 second quarter conference call. Joining me on today's call is our President and CEO, Krishnan Rajagopalan; and Chief Financial Officer, Mark Harris.

謝謝，歡迎參加我們的 2023 年第二季度電話會議。與我一起參加今天電話會議的是我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Krishnan Rajagopalan；和首席財務官馬克·哈里斯。

We posted our accompanying slides on the IR homepage of our website at heidrick.com, and we encourage you to view these slides for additional context. Please note that in the materials presented today, we may refer to non-GAAP financial measures that we believe provide additional insight into underlying results. Reconciliations between these non-GAAP financial measures and the most comparable GAAP measures may be found in the earnings press release.

我們在 heidrick.com 網站的 IR 主頁上發布了隨附的幻燈片，我們鼓勵您查看這些幻燈片以了解更多背景信息。請注意，在今天提供的材料中，我們可能會參考非公認會計準則財務指標，我們認為這些指標可以提供對基本結果的更多了解。這些非公認會計原則財務指標與最具可比性的公認會計原則指標之間的調節可以在收益新聞稿中找到。

Also in our remarks, we may make certain forward-looking statements. We ask that you please refer to the safe harbor language also contained in today's press release. Krishnan, I'll now turn the call over to you.

此外，在我們的言論中，我們可能會做出某些前瞻性陳述。我們要求您參考今天新聞稿中包含的安全港語言。克里希南，我現在把電話轉給你。

Thank you, Suzanne. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We're pleased with our second quarter results, which marked a continuation of what we were beginning to see in the first quarter with business trending as anticipated. Revenue met our expectations and included the first full quarter of results from our recent acquisitions, Atreus in the On-Demand Talent segment and businessfourzero or B4Z in our Heidrick Consulting segment.

謝謝你，蘇珊娜。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。我們對第二季度的業績感到滿意，這標誌著我們在第一季度開始看到的情況的延續，業務趨勢符合預期。收入符合我們的預期，包括我們最近收購的按需人才部門的 Atreus 和海德思哲諮詢部門的 Businessfourzero 或 B4Z 的第一季度業績。

Of significance, even before the positive effects of these acquisitions, each of our business segments demonstrated organic sequential growth despite the ongoing macro uncertainty and an anticipated return to a more normalized levels of business performance. I'll let Mark go into the details later on the call.

重要的是，即使在這些收購產生積極影響之前，儘管宏觀經濟持續存在不確定性，並且預期業務業績將恢復到更正常的水平，但我們的每個業務部門都表現出了有機的連續增長。我會讓馬克稍後在電話中詳細介紹。

Our steadfast focus on the execution of our strategy while maintaining strong profitability positions us well to navigate a choppy macro environment as well as manage the seasonality we typically see in the back half of the year.

我們堅定不移地專注於戰略的執行，同時保持強勁的盈利能力，這使我們能夠很好地應對動蕩的宏觀環境，並管理我們通常在下半年看到的季節性。

From our perspective and where we operate, the market for leadership talent remains tight and continues to show strong fundamentals with encouraging demand signals. In addition, the pace of change within the organizations we serve is faster than ever, resulting in new and continued growth opportunities for Heidrick, which I will discuss in a few moments.

從我們的角度和我們運營的地區來看，領導人才市場仍然緊張，並繼續顯示出強勁的基本面和令人鼓舞的需求信號。此外，我們所服務的組織內部的變革速度比以往任何時候都快，這為海德思哲帶來了新的持續增長機會，我將在稍後討論這一點。

Now moving on to some financial highlights for the second quarter. While year-over-year comparisons are down given the record results we achieved in 2022, we are very pleased that revenue increased 13% sequentially, including 10% organic growth, and adjusted EBITDA increased 33% sequentially with an EBITDA margin of 13.4%, up 190 basis points from the first quarter, and adjusted diluted EPS was $0.73 versus $0.76 in the prior quarter.

現在轉向第二季度的一些財務亮點。儘管鑑於我們在 2022 年取得的創紀錄業績，同比比較有所下降，但我們很高興收入連續增長 13%，其中有機增長 10%，調整後 EBITDA 連續增長 33%，EBITDA 利潤率為 13.4%，較第一季度增長190 個基點，調整後稀釋後每股收益為0.73 美元，而上一季度為0.76 美元。

Our results and continued diversification were further propelled by our recent acquisitions. Our well-defined M&A strategy has enabled both of these acquisitions to progress seamlessly, resulting in an immediate positive impact to our business. Overall, the business continues to operate at strong levels, resulting in a notable top line performance that translated into robust profitability. This focus on profitability allows us to fuel progress toward our overarching strategic goal of diversifying our revenue composition.

我們最近的收購進一步推動了我們的業績和持續多元化。我們明確的併購戰略使這兩項收購能夠順利進行，對我們的業務產生了立竿見影的積極影響。總體而言，該業務繼續保持強勁的運營水平，實現了顯著的營收業績，並轉化為強勁的盈利能力。對盈利能力的關注使我們能夠推動實現收入構成多元化的總體戰略目標。

As I stated earlier, the market for leadership talent remains tight and the pace of change continues to accelerate. Across our entire enterprise, we see Boards and CEOs constantly shifting priorities and navigating crises in real time. And now more than ever, Boards and CEOs must act quickly and decisively. We see a few important trends cutting across the various business segments that are driving growth. For example, CEOs are prioritizing talent, leadership and culture. Succession planning continues to be a growing priority and is expanding in scope. There is an increasing focus on overall Board effectiveness.

正如我之前所說，領導人才市場仍然緊張，而且變革的步伐不斷加快。在我們整個企業中，我們看到董事會和首席執行官不斷改變優先事項並實時應對危機。現在，董事會和首席執行官比以往任何時候都更必須迅速而果斷地採取行動。我們看到了跨越各個業務領域推動增長的一些重要趨勢。例如，首席執行官們優先考慮人才、領導力和文化。繼任計劃仍然是一個日益重要的優先事項，並且範圍正在擴大。人們越來越關注董事會的整體有效性。

Organizations are also prioritizing top team effectiveness and, of course, themes such as AI in cyber and potential changes in regulation will result in heightened need for those who bring relevant skills and insights into businesses and their Boards globally.

組織也在優先考慮高層團隊的效率，當然，網絡人工智能和監管的潛在變化等主題將導致對那些為全球企業及其董事會帶來相關技能和見解的人員的更高需求。

Now turning to each of our business segments. Beginning with Executive Search, this business posted sequential top line improvement on the heels of increased confirmation demand in the first quarter. As anticipated, this business moderately decreased from the record levels achieved last year, reflecting both the macro environment and the portfolio mix within verticals in which we operate. More specifically, we saw a slowdown in the financial services and technology markets, whereas industrial continued to experience strong demand.

現在轉向我們的每個業務部門。從高管獵頭開始，隨著第一季度確認需求的增加，該業務的營收連續改善。正如預期的那樣，該業務較去年創下的紀錄水平略有下降，反映了宏觀環境和我們經營的垂直行業的投資組合。更具體地說，我們看到金融服務和技術市場放緩，而工業市場需求繼續強勁。

We continue to see a solid market in Executive Search, given the level of change at the top as companies adapt to a new and changing operating environment. Demand has been most resilient at the very top in the roles of CEO, CFO and Board of Directors. Other burgeoning demand areas include a variety of tech and digital hybrid roles that are rapidly being created and cut across every industry practice.

考慮到隨著公司適應新的、不斷變化的運營環境，高層的變化程度，我們繼續看到高管獵頭市場的穩固。首席執行官、首席財務官和董事會等最高層職位的需求最具彈性。其他新興的需求領域包括各種技術和數字混合角色，這些角色正在迅速創建並跨越每個行業實踐。

Turning to On-Demand Talent. We are very excited by the strong acceleration in this business from last year, primarily driven by strategic acquisition. In addition to significantly contributing to the segment's revenue growth, the acquisition of Atreus is helping us establish and grow our presence in Continental Europe.

轉向按需人才。我們對去年以來該業務的強勁加速感到非常興奮，這主要是由戰略收購推動的。除了為該部門的收入增長做出重大貢獻之外，收購 Atreus 還幫助我們建立和擴大我們在歐洲大陸的業務。

Integration is well underway, particularly on the sales side, and our integration management office is leading a strong team with a clearly defined road map. It remains clear that On-Demand Talent is a strong avenue for growth and revenue diversification for Heidrick as it complements our other segments and offerings. Additionally, as the economy in various industries continue to transform, there's a growing market for On-Demand Talent solutions, where flexible, independent talent is valued.

整合正在順利進行，特別是在銷售方面，我們的整合管理辦公室正在領導一支強大的團隊，並製定了明確的路線圖。顯然，按需人才是海德思哲增長和收入多元化的強大途徑，因為它補充了我們的其他細分市場和產品。此外，隨著各行業經濟的不斷轉型，按需人才解決方案的市場不斷增長，靈活、獨立的人才受到重視。

Given the opportunities that we see today, we are reshaping this business to best serve our clients and continue to stay at the front line of their needs. We're supporting the business through investment, particularly in sales and marketing, while opportunistically expanding its geographic footprint. We remain enthusiastic on On-Demand Talent's expansion and see meaningful runway for the segment moving forward.

鑑於我們今天看到的機遇，我們正在重塑這項業務，以最好地服務我們的客戶，並繼續站在他們需求的最前沿。我們通過投資支持該業務，特別是在銷售和營銷方面，同時伺機擴大其地理覆蓋範圍。我們仍然對按需人才的擴張充滿熱情，並看到該領域向前發展的有意義的跑道。

Lastly, our Heidrick Consulting segment saw a strong organic sequential revenue growth. Year-over-year growth was also robust and primarily driven by acquisition. The integration of B4Z is proceeding smoothly. We've already deployed integrated go-to-market teams on several opportunities. Overall, Heidrick Consulting is seeing good demand signals. And despite some projects being delayed or put on hold, we don't see cancellations and are encouraged by our record strong backlog for this segment. Given the current market conditions, particularly with the tight job market, clients are especially focused on assessment, development, retention and culture. Ensuring a strong talent pipeline, especially retaining good leaders, has become an imperative. In response to this, we are seeing increased demand for leadership development programs, especially around the themes of agility and employee engagement.

最後，我們的海德思哲諮詢部門實現了強勁的有機連續收入增長。同比增長也很強勁，主要是由收購推動的。 B4Z的整合工作進展順利。我們已經在多個機會上部署了集成的市場營銷團隊。總體而言，海德思哲諮詢公司看到了良好的需求信號。儘管一些項目被推遲或擱置，但我們沒有看到取消的情況，並且我們對這一領域創紀錄的強勁積壓感到鼓舞。鑑於當前的市場狀況，特別是在就業市場緊張的情況下，客戶特別關注評估、發展、保留和文化。確保強大的人才管道，特別是留住優秀的領導者，已成為當務之急。為此，我們看到對領導力發展計劃的需求不斷增加，特別是圍繞敏捷性和員工敬業度的主題。

Turning now to our overall strategy. We remain focused on building and offering our clients the next generation of talent and leadership advisory services that will help them achieve higher performance through their leaders and teams. Our strategy centers on diversification, both organically and inorganically, within the 2 primary areas that Heidrick already serves as clients.

現在轉向我們的總體戰略。我們仍然專注於為客戶打造和提供下一代人才和領導力諮詢服務，幫助他們通過領導者和團隊實現更高的績效。我們的戰略以海德思哲已經作為客戶服務的兩個主要領域內的有機和無機多元化為中心。

First, acquiring talent, the pillars of which are Executive Search and our On-Demand Talent business; and second, improving the effectiveness of leaders, teams and organizations, which encompasses both Heidrick Consulting and our developing portfolio of digital assets. Strategically, we continue to invest in digital assets, where we're focused on helping companies manage and develop their leadership talent as an asset, systematically and holistically at scale using technology.

首先，獲取人才，其支柱是高管獵頭和我們的按需人才業務；其次，提高領導者、團隊和組織的效率，其中包括海德思哲諮詢公司和我們正在開發的數字資產組合。從戰略上講，我們繼續投資數字資產，專注於幫助企業利用技術系統地、全面地大規模管理和發展領導人才作為資產。

We're bullish on our first digital asset, Heidrick Navigator, which is currently being beta tested with a select group of multibillion dollar global clients. Heidrick Navigator is strongly resonating with these clients by helping them automate and optimize the task of evaluating the effectiveness of leaders, identifying new leaders and succession planning. We continue to make progress, and we're working to incorporate feedback and further shape the product for its efficient launch in the near future. We've also begun to aggressively pursue a direct sales organization in conjunction with our direct channel as we pivot towards monetization.

我們看好我們的第一個數字資產 Heidrick Navigator，該資產目前正在與一組價值數十億美元的全球客戶進行 beta 測試。 Heidrick Navigator 通過幫助這些客戶自動化和優化評估領導者有效性、識別新領導者和繼任計劃的任務，引起了強烈的共鳴。我們不斷取得進展，並正在努力吸收反饋並進一步塑造產品，以便在不久的將來高效推出。隨著我們轉向貨幣化，我們還開始積極尋求與我們的直接渠道結合的直銷組織。

In addition to Heidrick Navigator, we continue to make appropriate investments in our digital capabilities and technologies throughout the company, including gen AI. Importantly, we continue to integrate technology at the core of our business, enabling each of our segments to be more effective and efficient.

除了 Heidrick Navigator 之外，我們還繼續對整個公司的數字能力和技術進行適當的投資，包括 gen AI。重要的是，我們繼續將技術整合到我們業務的核心，使我們的每個部門更加有效和高效。

In closing, we are encouraged by the pace of business, and we see signs of strong fundamentals to support our current operating levels. From our view, the talent market is tight, and easing inflation could translate to further demand catalyst. We are confident in our strategy, focused on growth and diversification that solves for client needs on complex issues and provides broader comprehensive solutions for talent and human capital challenges at the executive level.

最後，我們對業務步伐感到鼓舞，並且我們看到了支持我們當前運營水平的強勁基本面跡象。我們認為，人才市場緊張，通脹緩解可能會轉化為進一步的需求催化劑。我們對我們的戰略充滿信心，專注於增長和多元化，解決客戶對複雜問題的需求，並為高管層面的人才和人力資本挑戰提供更廣泛的綜合解決方案。

Separately, we are very pleased to welcome John Berisford to our Board of Directors, expanding the Board to 8 members, 7 of whom are independent. John most recently was an executive with S&P Global, serving as President of S&P Global Ratings and formally was their Chief Human Resources Officer. John brings Heidrick a wealth of experience as a transformative business and HR leader who will serve us well as we continue to diversify our business and innovate for the future.

另外，我們非常高興地歡迎 John Berisford 加入我們的董事會，從而將董事會成員擴大到 8 名，其中 7 名是獨立成員。約翰最近擔任標準普爾全球公司的高管，擔任標準普爾全球評級公司的總裁，並正式擔任其首席人力資源官。約翰為海德思哲帶來了作為變革性業務和人力資源領導者的豐富經驗，他將為我們繼續實現業務多元化和未來創新提供良好服務。

Finally, a big thank you to the Heidrick team for their continued hard work and incredible dedication to our clients. I would now like to turn the call over to Mark.

最後，非常感謝海德思哲團隊的持續辛勤工作和對客戶的難以置信的奉獻。我現在想把電話轉給馬克。

Thank you, Krishnan, and good afternoon and evening to everyone on today's call. Today, I'll start off with a review of our second quarter results, which came in within our expectations with revenue at the midpoint of our guidance.

謝謝克里希南，今天電話會議上的大家下午好，晚上好。今天，我將首先回顧我們第二季度的業績，該業績符合我們的預期，收入處於我們指導的中點。

While business is slower than the frantic pace of last year, we're pleased with today's current market performance and remain laser-focused on delivering strong profitability to our shareholders. Importantly, as Krishnan mentioned, you can see the underlying fundamental strength of our business through the sequential balance via contributions by all lines of business.

雖然業務發展速度比去年的瘋狂步伐要慢，但我們對當前的市場表現感到滿意，並繼續專注於為股東提供強勁的盈利能力。重要的是，正如克里希南提到的，您可以通過所有業務線的貢獻的連續平衡看到我們業務的潛在基本實力。

As a reminder, second quarter results include the full quarter performance related to our acquired Atreus and B4Z businesses. In addition, the second quarter GAAP results include a $7.2 million noncash goodwill impairment charge, which I will comment on shortly, and a $3.4 million charge related to operational reorganizations that is accounted for in our salaries and benefits.

提醒一下，第二季度業績包括與我們收購的 Atreus 和 B4Z 業務相關的整個季度業績。此外，第二季度GAAP 業績包括720 萬美元的非現金商譽減值費用（我將很快對此進行評論），以及與運營重組相關的340 萬美元費用，該費用計入我們的工資和福利。

My comments today will adjust for the impairment as this is onetime in nature and not expected to be in the future results or comparative periods. Lastly, for purposes of today's call, I'm going to focus more on the sequential comparison of the business as I believe this provides a more meaningful indication of current underlying business trends, particularly given the current macro environment, versus comparing to prior year's record performance that we anticipated would abate in 2023.

我今天的評論將針對減值進行調整，因為這本質上是一次性的，預計不會出現在未來的結果或比較期間。最後，為了今天的電話會議，我將更多地關注業務的連續比較，因為我相信這與與上一年的記錄相比，可以更有意義地表明當前的基本業務趨勢，特別是考慮到當前的宏觀環境我們預計 2023 年的表現將會減弱。

On a consolidated basis, second quarter revenue was $271.2 million or 13.3% above first quarter 2023 results. Even before the impact of acquisitions, we delivered 10% sequential organic net revenue growth, thus demonstrating we had strong growth from our legacy businesses and not all from acquisitions. In Executive Search, revenue grew 8.6% sequentially to $206.8 million.

合併後，第二季度收入為 2.712 億美元，比 2023 年第一季度業績增長 13.3%。即使在收購影響之前，我們就實現了 10% 的環比有機淨收入增長，從而表明我們的強勁增長來自於我們的傳統業務，而不是全部來自收購。在高管獵頭業務中，收入環比增長 8.6% 至 2.068 億美元。

Looking at our regional performance sequentially, we saw increases in each region except for Asia Pacific. Specifically, American search revenue was up 8.8%, Europe was up 17% and Asia Pacific was down 6.5%. The strong overall revenue performance reflects increased confirmation demand we saw in the first quarter of 2023. However, confirmations were down 5.2% sequentially in the second quarter, which will likely translate into a slower revenue in the third quarter as we enter seasonally slower time for this segment.

按順序查看我們的區域業績，除亞太地區外，我們發現每個區域都有所增長。具體來說，美國搜索收入增長 8.8%，歐洲增長 17%，亞太地區下降 6.5%。強勁的整體收入表現反映出我們在2023 年第一季度看到的確認需求增加。然而，第二季度的確認數量環比下降了5.2%，隨著我們進入季節性放緩時期，這可能會轉化為第三季度的收入放緩。這一段。

Consultant productivity on a trailing 12-month basis in the second quarter was $2 million compared to $2.1 million in the first quarter of 2023. As you may recall, we made previous comments that we expect the new long-term trend of consultant productivity to be in the range of $1.8 million to $2 million. Whereas pre-COVID, this is more around $1.5 million to $1.7 million. This shift has been driven by post-COVID, where technology has been enhanced, embraced and accepted by the market.

第二季度過去 12 個月的顧問生產力為 200 萬美元，而 2023 年第一季度為 210 萬美元。您可能還記得，我們之前曾說過，我們預計顧問生產力的新長期趨勢將是在180萬美元到200萬美元之間。而在新冠疫情之前，這一數字約為 150 萬至 170 萬美元。這種轉變是由後新冠疫情推動的，技術得到了增強，並被市場接受和接受。

Turning to On-Demand Talent. Revenue was up 26.1% sequentially to $39.2 million and up 3.7% with only organic growth. As Krishnan mentioned, we're reshaping this business for the shifting opportunities that we're seeing and did record some associated reorganization costs that we do not expect to see moving forward. Specifically, we realigned the organization and made some key leadership changes to the business, enhanced our hiring process, and overhauled and streamlined our internal processes and technologies to move our businesses forward. We expect these changes to be fully in effect for the year 2024, if not before.

轉向按需人才。收入環比增長 26.1% 至 3,920 萬美元，僅有機增長則增長 3.7%。正如克里希南提到的，我們正在重塑這項業務，以應對我們所看到的不斷變化的機會，並記錄了一些我們預計不會繼續發生的相關重組成本。具體來說，我們重新調整了組織，並對業務進行了一些關鍵的領導層變革，增強了我們的招聘流程，並徹底改革和簡化了我們的內部流程和技術，以推動我們的業務向前發展。我們預計這些變化將在 2024 年（甚至更早）全面生效。

Heidrick Consulting second quarter revenue grew 42.3% sequentially to $25.2 million and up 27.7% with only organic growth. Our clients remain engaged with us in accelerating their performance culture, particularly as it relates to talent retention, strategy, purpose and execution. Both revenue and confirmation value grew on a sequential quarter comparison.

海德思哲第二季度收入環比增長 42.3% 至 2520 萬美元，僅有機增長則增長 27.7%。我們的客戶繼續與我們合作，加速他們的績效文化，特別是在人才保留、戰略、目標和執行方面。收入和確認價值均較連續季度有所增長。

While we're seeing some client deferment of project delivery, demand remains strong and our strategy of partnering with our clients on longer and deeper journeys has kept us close to the top of the house, providing us a positive outlook for the balance of the year. In addition, our recent acquisition of B4Z is expected to meaningfully contribute to the segment's revenue once it reaches its full potential under the Heidrick Consulting umbrella. Overall, we look forward to further scaling Heidrick Consulting while achieving appropriate levels of profitability.

雖然我們看到一些客戶推遲項目交付，但需求仍然強勁，而且我們與客戶在更長、更深入的旅程中合作的戰略使我們接近頂峰，為我們今年的剩餘時間提供了積極的前景。此外，一旦 B4Z 在 Heidrick Consulting 的保護下充分發揮潛力，我們最近收購的 B4Z 預計將對該部門的收入做出有意義的貢獻。總體而言，我們期待進一步擴大海德思哲諮詢的規模，同時實現適當的盈利水平。

Turning to operating expenses, including our recent acquisitions, we saw salary and benefits increase 12.6% from prior quarter. Variable compensation increased $18.5 million sequentially due to the higher level of production and fixed compensation increased $1.5 million sequentially, primarily due to new acquisitions and reorganization costs, offset by decreases in RSU amortization, retirement and benefit costs and the deferred compensation plan.

說到運營費用，包括我們最近的收購，我們看到工資和福利比上一季度增長了 12.6%。由於生產水平較高，可變薪酬環比增加1850 萬美元，固定薪酬環比增加150 萬美元，主要是由於新的收購和重組成本，但被RSU 攤銷、退休和福利成本以及遞延薪酬計劃的減少所抵消。

As a percentage of net revenue, salary and benefits was 66% versus 66.4% in the prior quarter. General and administrative expenses increased $6.2 million to $40.5 million or 14.9% of net revenue compared to 14.3% of net revenue in the first quarter of 2023. The modest increase is primarily the result of business development, professional fees, intangible amortization and earn-out costs in the quarter. In a more normalized environment, we would expect to see G&A as a percentage of net revenue to be approximately 15% or slightly lower. So we're pleased with these results.

工資和福利占淨收入的百分比為 66%，而上一季度為 66.4%。一般和管理費用增加了620 萬美元，達到4050 萬美元，占淨收入的14.9%，而2023 年第一季度占淨收入的14.3%。小幅增長主要是業務發展、專業費用、無形攤銷和盈利的結果本季度的成本。在更加正常化的環境中，我們預計 G&A 占淨收入的百分比約為 15% 或略低。所以我們對這些結果感到滿意。

Lastly, we remain focused on progressing the development of Heidrick Navigator and our other digital assets through R&D spend. R&D spend for the second quarter was $5.7 million or 2.1% of net revenue versus $5.5 million or 2.3% of net revenue in the first quarter of 2023. The spending is consistent with prior quarters and for the full year, we continue to expect R&D to be approximately $25 million.

最後，我們仍然專注於通過研發支出推進 Heidrick Navigator 和其他數字資產的開發。第二季度的研發支出為570 萬美元，占淨收入的2.1%，而2023 年第一季度的研發支出為550 萬美元，占淨收入的2.3%。該支出與前幾個季度和全年一致，我們繼續預計研發支出將約為2500萬美元。

As we continue to incorporate M&A activity into our business model, we must also record the noncash charges related to purchase accounting. Therefore, in terms of underlying profitability, we view adjusted EBITDA as the best proxy of our operating performance of the business and we'll use this more going forward as we are doing internally.

隨著我們繼續將併購活動納入我們的業務模式，我們還必須記錄與採購會計相關的非現金費用。因此，就基本盈利能力而言，我們認為調整後的 EBITDA 是我們業務經營業績的最佳代表，我們將在內部更多地利用這一點。

In the second quarter, adjusted EBITDA increased 33% sequentially to $36.4 million compared to $27.5 million in the first quarter of 2023. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 190 basis points to 13.4% from 11.5% in the prior quarter as well. On a segment basis, Executive Search finished the quarter with adjusted EBITDA up 11.3% to $53.9 million compared to $48.4 million in the first quarter of 2023. On-Demand Talent recorded adjusted EBITDA gain of $2.6 million versus a loss of $1.3 million in the prior quarter, primarily driven by acquisition. And Heidrick Consulting narrowed its adjusted EBITDA loss to $1.6 million from a $2.7 million loss in the prior quarter, primarily driven by organic improvements. Finally, adjusted income for the quarter was $15 million, and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.73.

第二季度，調整後 EBITDA 環比增長 33%，達到 3640 萬美元，而 2023 年第一季度為 2750 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率也從上一季度的 11.5% 增長 190 個基點，達到 13.4%。按部門劃分，獵頭本季度調整後EBITDA 增長11.3%，達到5,390 萬美元，而2023 年第一季度為4,840 萬美元。On-Demand Talent 調整後EBITDA 收益為260 萬美元，而上一季度為虧損130萬美元季度，主要由收購推動。海德思哲諮詢公司 (Heidrick Consulting) 將調整後 EBITDA 虧損從上一季度的 270 萬美元虧損縮小至 160 萬美元，這主要是由於有機改進。最後，該季度調整後收入為 1500 萬美元，調整後攤薄每股收益為 0.73 美元。

Now I'll turn to the balance sheet. At the end of the second quarter, our cash and marketable securities sequentially increased by $34.3 million to $239 million compared to $204.7 million at the end of the first quarter. We continue to believe our greatest returns will come from reinvesting our cash in the business, particularly in growth of On-Demand Talent and our digital portfolio.

現在我將轉向資產負債表。第二季度末，我們的現金和有價證券連續增加 3430 萬美元，達到 2.39 億美元，而第一季度末為 2.047 億美元。我們仍然相信，我們最大的回報將來自於將現金再投資於業務，特別是按需人才和數字投資組合的增長。

Moving forward, whether it's pressure on corporate spending, we are still seeing good demand signals and strong fundamentals across our business lines. Therefore, we expect the second half to be similar to what we've experienced in the first half of 2023, coupled with seasonality. That said, turning to our third quarter 2023 revenue guidance, we expect to range between $245 million and $265 million, which reflects typical summer seasonality patterns from the second quarter.

展望未來，無論是企業支出面臨壓力，我們仍然看到良好的需求信號和整個業務線強勁的基本面。因此，我們預計下半年的情況將與 2023 年上半年類似，並且存在季節性因素。也就是說，轉向 2023 年第三季度的收入指引，我們預計收入範圍在 2.45 億美元至 2.65 億美元之間，這反映了第二季度典型的夏季季節性模式。

As a reminder, our diversification strategy provides us with new businesses that carry different macro risk profiles, which tends to be less cyclical. So while our guidance contemplates a slowdown in Executive Search, we do expect to see stronger relative performances from On-Demand Talent and Heidrick Consulting.

提醒一下，我們的多元化戰略為我們提供了具有不同宏觀風險狀況的新業務，這些風險狀況往往週期性較小。因此，儘管我們的指引考慮到高管獵頭業務放緩，但我們確實預計按需人才和海德思哲諮詢公司的相對錶現將更為強勁。

I'd like to conclude today's call by outlining how the evolution of our strategy will impact our financial results as we move forward. As we continue to leverage our distinguished Executive Search business and grow our adjacent segments, we would, of course, expect to see top line expansion. This means increased revenue diversification, less cyclicality in revenue and thus making revenue more stable.

在結束今天的電話會議時，我想概述一下我們的戰略演變將如何影響我們的財務業績。隨著我們繼續利用我們傑出的獵頭業務並發展我們的相鄰細分市場，我們當然希望看到營收擴張。這意味著收入多元化增加，收入周期性減少，從而使收入更加穩定。

While new businesses are growing and will carry lower margins versus Executive Search and therefore will decrease our margins overall, they will add aggregate dollars to the bottom line. This, coupled with not increasing share count or adding leverage to pay for these acquisitions, will be EPS accretive over time. Thus, as we continue to focus on organic and inorganic growth opportunities, we'll leverage our healthy balance sheet and proven M&A strategy. Of note, our M&A strategy is predicated on finding opportunities that are strategically and culturally aligned, present high cash-on-cash returns and are additive to our EPS after integration expenses roll off.

雖然新業務正在增長，並且與獵頭相比利潤率較低，因此會降低我們的整體利潤率，但它們會增加總收入。再加上不增加股份數量或增加槓桿來支付這些收購費用，隨著時間的推移，每股收益將會增加。因此，當我們繼續關注有機和無機增長機會時，我們將利用我們健康的資產負債表和經過驗證的併購策略。值得注意的是，我們的併購戰略的基礎是尋找戰略和文化上一致的機會，帶來高現金回報率，並在整合費用減少後增加我們的每股收益。

In conclusion, we look forward to continuing this journey and throughout this transformation, we remain dedicated to delivering strong returns to our shareholders. Finally, before turning the call over to the operator for Q&A, just a minor housekeeping item. Given various calendar and scheduling obligations, we are targeting Wednesday, October 25, for our third quarter earnings conference call, which is different from our usual Monday calls. This is the only time we expect to make this change.

總之，我們期待繼續這一旅程，並在整個轉型過程中，我們仍然致力於為股東帶來豐厚的回報。最後，在將電話轉交給接線員進行問答之前，只需進行一些小的內務處理。考慮到各種日曆和日程安排義務，我們定於 10 月 25 日星期三召開第三季度收益電話會議，這與我們通常的周一電話會議不同。這是我們唯一一次期望進行此更改。

With that, Krishnan and I would be glad to take your questions.

克里希南和我很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question this afternoon from Kevin Steinke of Barrington Research.

（操作員說明）今天下午我們將回答 Barrington Research 的 Kevin Steinke 提出的第一個問題。

Good afternoon. I wanted to start off by asking about the pace of change accelerating. You mentioned that a couple of times, Krishnan, in your opening remarks. And maybe if you could just talk about some of the factors or the broader macro trends you're seeing that are accelerating the pace of change when organizations are looking at their leadership teams.

下午好。我想首先詢問變革步伐的加快。克里希南，你在開場白中多次提到過這一點。也許您可以談談您在組織審視其領導團隊時看到的一些正在加快變革步伐的因素或更廣泛的宏觀趨勢。

Yes. Kevin, thanks for that question. Multiple things that we are seeing regarding pace of change and how companies are looking at it. Like even if you look at something like succession planning, which typically that word was reserved for the CEO, it's now being applied to the entire C-suite. So that's a broad sweeping change that's going on, how to think about succession for the entire C-suite as well and how to think about that over multiple years. Such is one example of something which is changing rather fast in our world if we look at that over the last couple of years.

是的。凱文，謝謝你提出這個問題。我們看到了許多關於變革速度以及公司如何看待它的事情。就像，即使你看一下繼任計劃之類的東西，這個詞通常是為首席執行官保留的，但現在它已經應用於整個最高管理層。因此，這是一個正在發生的廣泛的徹底的變化，如何考慮整個最高管理層的繼任，以及如何考慮多年來的情況。如果我們看看過去幾年的情況，這就是我們的世界正在快速變化的一個例子。

If we look at technology, it could go a different way in making decisions and how to make decisions. We're going to see an increased pace of change in the incorporation of gen AI and things like that into decision-making processes of executive teams and the implications of that and what that means for leadership teams as well. So these are the kinds of things that we are definitely seeing that are going on out there that -- and digital transformation, these are all continuing, and there's an urgency about it that these things go much, much faster for us right now.

如果我們審視技術，它可能會以不同的方式製定決策以及如何制定決策。我們將看到將人工智能等技術融入執行團隊的決策過程中的變革步伐加快，以及其影響以及對領導團隊的意義。因此，這些是我們肯定會看到正在發生的事情——數字化轉型，這些都在繼續，而且迫切需要這些事情現在對我們來說要快得多。

Okay. I also wanted to ask about the On-Demand Talent segment. I think you used the phrase that you're reshaping the On-Demand Talent segment. Just if you could expand on that. Is that just more referring to your investments in the sales team? Or is there something more kind of going beyond or going on there as you develop that segment to meet the demand in the future?

好的。我還想詢問按需人才部分的情況。我認為您使用了“正在重塑按需人才”這一短語。如果你能擴展一下就好了。這是否更多地指的是您對銷售團隊的投資？或者，當您開發該細分市場以滿足未來需求時，是否有更多的超越或正在進行的事情？

Yes. Let me start with that. And then Mark, if you got something, you can jump in. So one of the things we're doing is we are realigning the sales function that we have there with the talent function and bringing those closer together rather than keeping them as a slightly separate organization. So that's the realignment that we're really talking about. And we think that's going to create a lot of synergy as well as expertise that we need to be able to drive that. We do continue to invest in the sales go-to-market function over there as well as you alluded to. So that's another big thing that we're doing in that space. So we feel like between all of those things, we'll be able to address market needs much faster and with far more expertise as a result of that. So those are 2 things that we are doing.

是的。讓我從那開始。然後馬克，如果你有什麼東西，你可以加入。所以我們正在做的一件事是我們正在重新調整我們現有的銷售職能和人才職能，並使它們更加緊密地結合在一起，而不是讓它們僅僅作為一個輕微的角色。單獨的組織。這就是我們真正談論的重組。我們認為這將產生大量的協同效應以及我們需要的專業知識來推動這一目標。正如您提到的那樣，我們確實繼續投資那裡的銷售進入市場功能。這是我們在該領域正在做的另一件大事。因此，我們覺得在所有這些事情之間，我們將能夠更快地滿足市場需求，並因此擁有更多的專業知識。這是我們正在做的兩件事。

Okay. I also wanted to ask about the digital products you're investing in and specifically Navigator. You've said it's resonating very well with your pilot clients. You also mentioned building out a direct sales organization for digital. Just wondering if you envision using that sales organization to go after maybe organizations that you're currently not working with in any fashion or if you see the best opportunity is to cross-sell to existing clients. I think that would be, given your relationships, kind of maybe an easier path ahead. But just on maybe any comments on how you plan to penetrate the market with your digital offerings?

好的。我還想詢問您正在投資的數字產品，特別是 Navigator。您說過它與您的試點客戶產生了很好的共鳴。您還提到建立數字直銷組織。只是想知道您是否打算使用該銷售組織來追隨您目前未以任何方式合作的組織，或者您是否認為最好的機會是向現有客戶進行交叉銷售。我認為，考慮到你們的關係，這可能是一條更容易的道路。但對於您計劃如何利用數字產品打入市場，您有什麼評論嗎？

Super. Yes. So you're hitting on a bunch of themes over there. So we kind of referred to working with Heidrick as almost the Heidrick channel, okay? And so we've got a set of clients and relationships that we work with. And we typically make those introductions in the beginning parts of those sales through our search and consulting and other relationships, as you can imagine. We do believe that for a bit more of a technical sale like this, we need to augment that with some expertise, so there is some additional expertise that's coming in there to be able to manage that process and get everything done with that. There's lots of requirements on privacy, as you can imagine, just to name one big category that you've got to walk your way through, contracts, et cetera.

極好的。是的。所以你在那裡碰上了一堆主題。因此，我們將與海德思克的合作稱為幾乎海德思克渠道，好嗎？因此，我們擁有一系列合作的客戶和關係。正如您可以想像的那樣，我們通常會在銷售的開始部分通過我們的搜索、諮詢和其他關係進行這些介紹。我們確實相信，對於像這樣的技術銷售，我們需要用一些專業知識來增強它，因此需要一些額外的專業知識來管理該流程並完成所有工作。正如您可以想像的那樣，對隱私有很多要求，僅舉出您必須經歷的一大類：合同等等。

The stand-alone sales force as well that we're building is about outside the Heidrick sales channel predominantly, okay? We see a very large market that's there that's actually asking us for exactly the same set of solutions and how do we prosecute that. So we build that slowly. We first leverage the Heidrick channel, but at the same time, we're starting to build that muscle for sales as well.

我們正在建立的獨立銷售隊伍主要是在海德思哲銷售渠道之外，好嗎？我們看到那裡有一個非常大的市場，實際上要求我們提供完全相同的解決方案，以及我們如何實施它。所以我們慢慢地建立它。我們首先利用海德思哲渠道，但同時，我們也開始增強銷售力量。

Okay. Great. You mentioned on a sequential basis, search confirmations being down about 5%. And I guess, would you just attribute that primarily to seasonality going into the summer season or anything in the macro environment perhaps contributing to that?

好的。偉大的。您提到，按順序計算，搜索確認量下降了約 5%。我想，您是否會將其主要歸因於夏季的季節性或宏觀環境中的任何因素可能導致這種情況？

Kevin, it's Mark. I'll try to take that one. So in terms of the slowdown that we saw about the 5%, I think it was a little bit -- there was a little bit of a nuance in April that we experienced. That was a bit of an interesting glitch. That really, again, could be pointed as a lot of holidays coming together, a lot of spring breaks, and then we saw some of that made up in May. So I think that was kind of where the original gap was kind of created. I think what's been pleasantly surprising is the -- what I'd call the relative strength of the second quarter, that is still very much further ahead than 2018 and 2019 pre-COVID levels, but certainly not where 2022 and 2021 were.

凱文，是馬克。我會嘗試接受那個。因此，就我們看到的約 5% 的放緩而言，我認為這只是一點點——我們在 4 月份經歷了一些細微差別。這是一個有點有趣的小故障。這確實可以再次指出，因為有很多假期、很多春假，然後我們看到其中一些是在五月彌補的。所以我認為這就是最初的差距產生的地方。我認為令人驚喜的是——我所說的第二季度的相對強度，仍然比 2018 年和 2019 年新冠疫情前的水平領先很多，但肯定不是 2022 年和 2021 年的水平。

So we talked about toward the end of the year, we said we knew those were going to be our goalposts, and we'd probably be somewhere in the middle is our best guess. I think that's the nice part is we are coming in pretty much where we would expect to be. The seasonality element that you've mentioned is really more of a Q3 phenomenon. So we gave the guidance range of $245 million, $265 million. Let's just use the $255 million midpoint from the $271 million that we just completed.

因此，我們在年底時進行了討論，我們說我們知道這些將成為我們的目標，我們最好的猜測是我們可能會處於中間的某個位置。我認為這是一個很好的部分，因為我們幾乎已經達到了我們預期的水平。你提到的季節性因素實際上更多是第三季度的現象。所以我們給出的指導範圍是2.45億美元、2.65億美元。讓我們使用剛剛完成的 2.71 億美元中的 2.55 億美元中點。

And again, you would expect and we've seen that July is already starting to slow down considerably. Mainly because people are going on summer holiday, we would expect August, especially in Europe, to be weaker than average just because it's August and it's Europe and they take their time off. And then we'd expect September to have a nice strengthening return, so to speak. So I think it was -- the way that I would kind of step back and think is to say that, look, we haven't seen tremendous weakness. Yes, weaker than last year, but not tremendous weakness, so we'll continue to monitor and watch what the Fed is going to do in their next meeting and see how that could cause essentially -- cause some hiccups. But right now, I think we're very pleased with the performance of the year. And at least based on what we're seeing in our future, we're still very happy with the market given the conditions and the headwinds we're facing.

再說一次，你會預料到，我們也看到七月已經開始大幅放緩。主要是因為人們正在度假，我們預計八月，特別是在歐洲，會弱於平均水平，因為現在是八月，而且是歐洲，他們休假。然後我們預計 9 月份將會有一個不錯的強勢回報，可以這麼說。所以我認為，我退後一步思考的方式是，看，我們沒有看到巨大的弱點。是的，比去年疲軟，但不是巨大的疲軟，所以我們將繼續監測和觀察美聯儲在下次會議上將做什麼，看看這會如何導致本質上的——導致一些問題。但現在，我認為我們對今年的表現非常滿意。至少根據我們對未來的看法，考慮到我們面臨的條件和逆風，我們仍然對市場非常滿意。

We'll go next now to Tobey Sommer at Truist Securities.

接下來我們請來 Truist 證券公司的托比·索默 (Tobey Sommer)。

Yes. This is Jack Wilson on for Tobey Sommer. I also started off with -- can we dig into sort of the Executive Search confirmations and productivity per consultant? You sort of mentioned that paradigm shift from sort of that higher level in terms of revenue. Can we just start there?

是的。我是傑克·威爾遜 (Jack Wilson) 替托比·索默 (Tobey Sommer) 發言。我還開始討論——我們可以深入了解高管搜尋確認和每位顧問的生產力嗎？您提到了收入方面從更高水平的範式轉變。我們可以從這裡開始嗎？

Yes. Let me try to hit on the productivity side of it. So if you remember back in the really busy days of '21 and '22, our consultant productivity was showing up at, trailing 12 months, around $2.6 million. And we made comments when reporting out that number that, that was very much unsustainable, that it would break the team to try to maintain something at that level. We gave our view that really, the new norm will be somewhere between $1.8 million and $2 million, and that is different than the $1.5 million, $1.7 million we saw pre-COVID. And that's just because the post-COVID world that they discussed was just very different than what we were experiencing. Zoom is very much embraced. The travel is very much down. Last mile still has travel pertaining to it but not at the beginning stages of searches, et cetera.

是的。讓我嘗試談談它的生產力方面。因此，如果您還記得 21 世紀和 22 世紀最繁忙的日子，我們的顧問生產力在過去 12 個月中約為 260 萬美元。我們在報告這個數字時發表了評論，這是非常不可持續的，如果團隊試圖維持這個水平，就會崩潰。我們認為，實際上，新標準將在 180 萬美元到 200 萬美元之間，這與我們在新冠疫情之前看到的 150 萬美元和 170 萬美元不同。那隻是因為他們討論的後新冠世界與我們正在經歷的世界非常不同。 Zoom 非常受歡迎。旅行的心情非常低落。最後一英里仍然有與之相關的行程，但不是在搜索的開始階段，等等。

We saw our days to close go from approximately 180 days to sub 150 days. So we've seen a nice change of that pace. And that just means people can do more by still maintaining a reasonable balance. So again, the $2 million is right at the top end of that $1.8 million, $2 million guidance that we kind of gave way back when. And so I'm just trying to make sure we're cautious people by so stating that again, if that falters to $1.8 million to $2 million, that's exactly in the sweet spot that we think what we would call our full engagement for our search consultants to be at a reasonable full capacity.

我們的關閉天數從大約 180 天縮短到不到 150 天。所以我們看到了這種速度的巨大變化。這僅僅意味著人們可以通過保持合理的平衡來做更多的事情。再說一次，200 萬美元正好是我們之前放棄的 180 萬美元、200 萬美元指導的上限。所以我只是想確保我們是謹慎的人，再次聲明，如果這個數字下降到 180 萬到 200 萬美元，這正是我們認為我們所說的全力參與搜索的最佳點顧問應處於合理的滿負荷狀態。

That makes a lot of sense. Is there any variance in that sort of by region?

這很有意義。這種情況按地區劃分有差異嗎？

Yes, absolutely. And you expect the U.S. region to be much higher than that just because of the way that our compensation levels in Executive Search, et cetera, Europe would obviously fall right behind that. And of course, Asia would be further behind that just because of the economics. Also, the mix makes a big difference too, so it's a fair question and challenge, which is again a lot more in the U.S. in terms of -- and I'm just going to talk about norms, not necessarily the current state. But GTS and financial services are where you get a lot more average retainers that are typically higher as well as [optics]. And obviously, those are the 2 parts that are suffering right now in the current market.

是的，一點沒錯。你預計美國地區的薪酬水平會比這個高得多，因為我們在高管獵頭等方面的薪酬水平，歐洲顯然會落後於此。當然，由於經濟原因，亞洲會進一步落後。此外，這種混合也會產生很大的差異，所以這是一個公平的問題和挑戰，這在美國又是更多的——我只是要談論規範，不一定是當前狀態。但 GTS 和金融服務領域的平均聘用人員數量通常更高，[光學] 也更高。顯然，這些是目前市場上正在遭受影響的兩個部分。

Europe, a little bit better on the industrial and consumer, their mix side of it. So keep in mind, it's not just absolute because that is true, a CEO in the U.S. certainly gets paid more than, on average, a CEO in Europe. But the mix also makes a play in terms of what's going on in the market, the strength. So again, our team in Germany are doing a fabulous job with their play and their strength, et cetera. So it really plays a big difference between country mix, between industrial mix. And that really kind of plays out, but they're absolutely very different in the 3 regions.

歐洲在工業和消費方面稍好一些，他們的混合方面。因此請記住，這不僅僅是絕對的，因為這是事實，美國首席執行官的平均薪酬肯定高於歐洲首席執行官。但這種組合也會根據市場的情況和實力發揮作用。再說一遍，我們德國隊的表現和實力等等都做得非常出色。因此，國家組合、產業組合之間確實存在很大差異。這確實發生了，但三個地區的情況絕對不同。

All right. So on the German point, would you be able to sort of size the contribution or the expected contribution from the acquisitions in sort of the second half of the year?

好的。那麼，就德國而言，您能否對下半年收購的貢獻或預期貢獻進行排序？

I'm sorry. In terms of EBITDA?

對不起。就 EBITDA 而言？

Revenue and EBITDA.

收入和 EBITDA。

I mean so I think we gave some pretty good numbers in terms of just overall in terms of where the -- by each segment of what the contribution was between organic and/or inorganic. And really, it was more of a question that was really kind of been asked in our last earnings call. So I wanted to give you a flavor. We're not going to go into various specifics on each of our acquisitions. We don't do that. Nor do we break it out that way anywhere in our segment reporting because we just don't look at it that way. But I think you get a good sense that, look, the acquisitions are helping. But it's the -- really the legacy organic side that's really performing also very, very well right now.

我的意思是，我認為我們給出了一些相當不錯的數字，就總體而言，有機和/或無機之間的貢獻的每個部分。事實上，這更多的是我們在上次財報電話會議中確實被問到的一個問題。所以我想給你嚐嚐味道。我們不會詳細討論每項收購的具體細節。我們不這樣做。我們也不會在分部報告的任何地方以這種方式進行分解，因為我們只是不那樣看。但我認為你可以清楚地意識到，看，這些收購正在發揮作用。但實際上，傳統的有機方面現在確實表現得非常非常好。

(Operator Instructions) And it appears we have no further questions this afternoon. Mr. Rajagopalan, I'd like to turn the conference back to you for any closing comments.

（操作員說明）今天下午我們似乎沒有其他問題了。 Rajagopalan 先生，我想將會議轉回給您，請您發表總結意見。

Thank you, everyone, for your participation and continued support. As we mentioned earlier, we're encouraged by our results, and we continue to see good demand signals despite a broader macro uncertainty that continues to exist. In tandem with navigating the economic challenges, we remain focused on growing our business and continuing to execute on our diversification strategy. We look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Thank you.

感謝大家的參與和持續的支持。正如我們之前提到的，我們對我們的結果感到鼓舞，儘管更廣泛的宏觀不確定性繼續存在，但我們仍然看到良好的需求信號。在應對經濟挑戰的同時，我們仍然專注於發展我們的業務並繼續執行我們的多元化戰略。我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。謝謝。

Again, ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for joining the Heidrick & Struggles Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Again, thank you all for joining. Wish you all a great evening. Goodbye.

女士們、先生們，再次感謝大家參加海德思哲 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。再次感謝大家的加入。祝大家度過一個美好的夜晚。再見。