Huron Consulting Group Inc.

Good afternoon and welcome to Huron Consulting Group's webcast to discuss financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2023. At this time, all conference lines are on a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session for conference call participants and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. Before we begin, I would like to point all of you to the disclosure at the end of the company's news release for information about any forward-looking statements that may be made or discussed on this call. The news release is posted on Euron's website. Please review that information along with the filing with the SEC for a disclosure of factors that may impact subjects discussed in this afternoon's webcast. The company will be discussing one or more non-GAAP financial measures. Please look at the earnings release and on Huron's website for all of the disclosures required by the SEC, including reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP numbers. And now I would like to turn the call over to Mark Hussey, Chief Executive Officer and President of Huron Consulting Group. Mr. Hussey, please go ahead.

Good afternoon and welcome to Huron Consulting Group's fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings call. With me today are John Kelly, our Chief Financial Officer, and Ronnie Dale, our Chief Operating Officer. Driven by strong growth across all three operating segments in 2023, we achieved record revenues and expanded our operating margins for the third consecutive year. Our fourth quarter performance was consistent with our expectations culminating in record financial performance for full year 2023. Revenues in the fourth quarter and full year 2023 grew 8% and 20% respectively. In 2023, our consulting and managed services capability, which represents over half of our revenues, grew 23%, while our digital capability grew 17%, achieving revenue that is approaching $600 million. and represented 43% of our revenues across all three operating segments. Full-year adjusted EBITDA margins improved 70 basis points over the prior year, reflecting continued progress toward our objective of returning to mid-teen EBITDA margins by 2025. And our strong cash flow enabled us to return $124 million to shareholders via share repurchases in 2023 while maintaining a strong financial position. Our financial performance demonstrates the strength of the foundation we've established under our integrated go-to-market model to continue delivering on our medium-term investor objectives. Our deep industry expertise in leading market positions in healthcare and education, our expanding presence in commercial industries, and our growing portfolio of digital capabilities positions us well to meet or exceed our medium-term financial objectives for low double-digit revenue growth, and increased profitability. Now to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2023 performance, along with our expectations for 2024. In the fourth quarter of 2023, healthcare segment revenue grew 12% over the prior year quarter, reflecting the strong demand across our digital strategy and innovation, performance improvement, and financial advisory offerings. On a full year basis, the healthcare segment achieved growing 26% over 2022. Demand was widespread across our performance improvement, digital, financial advisory, strategy and innovation, and managed services offerings. Our consulting and managed services revenues increased 30% and digital capability revenues increased 16% over the prior year. We continue to diversify our portfolio to meet the expanding needs of our healthcare clients and built a strong foundation for ongoing growth for this segment. As I mentioned on our last earnings call, the operating environment for healthcare providers began to improve in 2023. Despite some improvements in overall patient volume, many health systems continue to face significant financial pressures. A confluence of labor-driven financial and operating challenges combined with increasing competition Deteriorating payer mix and inflationary and interest rate headwinds create challenges for health system business models. We believe these market pressures create opportunities for our diverse set of healthcare offerings. The investments we've made and will continue to make in innovation, new services, products, and partnerships positions our healthcare segment will continue growth in 2024. Turning now to the education segment. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Education segment revenues increased 7% over the prior year quarter, primarily driven by demand for our digital offerings. Annual revenues in the segment grew 19% compared to 2022, achieving record revenues of $430 million. For the full year, demand was broad-based, with our digital revenues and consulting advanced services revenues increasing 28% and 12% respectively over 2022. We believe a solid demand for our digital, research, and strategy and operations offerings will remain strong as higher education institutions face continued financial and operational challenges. The frequently mentioned demographic challenges leading to declining numbers of college-bound students creates a highly competitive environment for admissions. Similar to our healthcare clients, increased labor and facilities costs, unfunded government mandates, and the increased reliance on digital platforms create financial pressures and challenges to the achievement of university missions. Huron's well-established reputation, long history of proven results, and deep client relationships makes us one of the most trusted advisors to the industry, which we believe positions us well to support our clients through the diverse set of challenges faced by the higher education industry. Before I turn to the commercial segment, I would like to highlight a recently announced investment we will make to accelerate our growth in our mission-driven end markets, which is a key pillar of our strategy. Earlier this month, we announced our intent to acquire GG&A, a leading philanthropy-focused management consulting firm that serves education institutions in healthcare, arts, and other nonprofit organizations. This acquisition strengthens our philanthropic consulting offerings, complements our advancement-focused digital services, It creates new pathways for us to serve our mission-driven clients, and we expect the transaction to close next month. Now, turning to the commercial segment. In the fourth quarter of 2023, commercial segment revenues were flat over the prior year quarter, primarily attributable to growth or digital offerings offset by declines in our strategy and innovation offerings. On a full-year basis, commercial segment revenues grew 9% year over year. The growth was broad-based as our consulting and managed services capability and digital capability grew 13% and 7% respectively. A standout performer within the commercial segment was our financial advisory business, which grew 68% for 2022, driven by strong demand for our restructuring and turnaround offerings. The uncertainties in the broader macroeconomic environment, including rising interest rates, inflationary pressures, geopolitical risks have created unique challenges, particularly among some of our mid-market commercial clients. As is often the case, an uncertain economic environment needs many organizations to take a more cautious approach to executing large-scale initiatives. This created mixed demand for our offerings in 2023. Our financial advisory offerings were in strong demand during the past year as many organizations facing financial distress sought our expertise. Our digital offerings grew more slowly as some organizations were more cautious about their spending on large-scale digital initiatives. We are now seeing positive indicators that demand for commercial digital projects is improving as we begin 2024. Our growth in 2023 demonstrates the importance of a balanced commercial portfolio. we remain focused on growing our presence in commercial industries by building more industry depth and expanding our capabilities while maintaining balance within the commercial segment and across a more diversified enterprise platform. Now let me turn to our expectations and guidance for 2024, which contemplates our pending acquisition of GG&A. Our revenue guidance for the year is $1.46 billion to $1.54 billion. We also expect adjusted EBITDA at a range of 12.8% to 13.3% of revenues, and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $5.35 to $5.95. Company-wide, guiding to 10% revenue growth at the midpoint for 2024. We're proud of the significant growth we achieved in 2022 and 2023, and we believe demand for our portfolio of offerings will continue to 2024. We remain focused on achieving low double-digit annual revenue growth objectives that we established at our 2022 investor day, while pursuing opportunities to accelerate growth beyond those goals, as demonstrated in recent years. In terms of margins, the midpoint of our 2024 guidance, we expect a 70 basis point improvement over 2023, building off the collective 150 basis point improvement achieved in 2022 and 2023. The midpoint of our guided adjusted earnings per share range of $5.35 to $5.95 per share is actually 116% higher than our 2021 adjusted EPS of $2.61, which reflects the compounding impact of revenue growth, margin expansion, and return to shareholders via share repurchases. We remain committed to achieving our financial objectives for sustainable revenue growth and improve profitability. And to deliver these objectives, we remain focused in five key areas. First, accelerating growth in our core and markets of healthcare and education. Second, expanding our growing commercial business. Third, advancing our global digital technology and analytics platform. Fourth, broadening our offerings and capabilities to build a sustainable base from which to drive consistent revenue growth and margin expansion, and fifth, strategically deploying capital to invest in the areas of our business with the greatest growth potential while returning capital to shareholders. Our growth strategy has delivered strong results in recent years, and we believe it will continue to be the foundation from which we will achieve top and bottom line growth in the future. Each of the pillars of our growth strategy reinforce and build upon one another And when executed together, they'll help us enhance our ability to deliver on our clients' most complex challenges, strengthen our competitive advantage, and create value for our shareholders. 2023 was a record year for Heron, and these results are only possible because of our incredibly talented team and their commitment to making a lasting impact on our clients and our business. Heron's always had a vibrant and collaborative culture, and that culture remains at the heart of our success. Together, we've collectively built a client-centric culture and supportive work environment, which was reflected by Huron securing the 32nd position out of 100 on Glassdoor's Best Places to Work, U.S. Large Companies List. The Glassdoor rankings and our financial results demonstrate considerable impact our team has had on Huron's performance. We don't take our recent success for granted. We remain focused on executing our strategy. We're excited about our prospects for 2024 as we strengthen our competitive position and take advantage of the market opportunities that lie ahead. And now before I lose my voice, I'm going to turn it over to John for a more detailed discussion of our financial results. John?

Thank you, Mark, and good afternoon, everyone. Before I begin, please note that I will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures such as EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, adjusted EPS, and free cash flow. Press release, 10K and investor relations page on the Huron website have reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures, the most comparable GAAP measures, along with the discussion of why management uses these non-GAAP measures, but why management believes they provide useful information to investors regarding our financial condition and operating results. I'd first like to touch on two housekeeping items before discussing our financial results for the quarter. First, earlier this month, we announced our intent to acquire GG&A We expect that transaction to close in the first quarter of 2024, and as such, it is not included in our fourth quarter results. The acquisition of GG&A will strengthen our industry expertise and expand our consulting offerings to help our mission-driven clients build and accelerate their philanthropic programs. Second, let me provide a brief comment on a note in our press release. GAAP net income includes a non-cash unrealized loss of $19.4 million net of tax during the quarter related to our investment in a hospital-at-home company. As a reminder, in 2019, we invested $5 million in a hospital-at-home company as a strategic investment that has annually produced meaningful implementation projects for our healthcare segment. In the first quarter of 2022, we recognized a non-cash unrealized gain on this investment of $19.8 million net of tax based on the valuation established in a round of financing that closed that quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company recorded a non-cash impairment loss of $19.4 million net of tax on the investment, essentially reversing the 2022 gain based on the valuation established in a new round of financing expected to close in early 2024. As of December 31st, 2023, the investment's carrying value was $7.4 million, reflecting a net unrealized gain of $2.4 million on the investment since inception. Grants ownership percentage in this hospital-at-home company is less than 5%. Now I'll share some of the key financial results for the quarter and full year of 2021 crew. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2023 were $339.2 million, up 8.1% from $313.7 million in the same quarter of 2022. The increase in revenues in the quarter was driven by growth in the healthcare and education segments. In addition, our digital capability posted strong growth across all three segments. For the full year of 2023, revenue was $1.362 billion, up 20.3% from $1.132 billion in 2022. We achieved record revenues in 2023, reflecting broad-based demand for our portfolio of offerings across all three operating segments. Our propellants in 2023 also reflects strong execution on the key elements of our growth strategy, accelerating growth in healthcare and education, expanding our presence in commercial industries, and further growing our digital capability. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $2.8 million, or 15 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $17.1 million for $0.85 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2022, and reflects the non-cash unrealized loss of $19.4 million net of tax for $1 per diluted earnings per share related to our investment in a hospital home company, as discussed earlier. For a full year of 2023, net income was $62.5 million for $3.19 per diluted share. This compares the net income of $75.6 million for $3.64 per diluted share in 2022. Both periods reflect the impact of non-cash changes in fair value related to our investment in a hospital or home company, as discussed earlier. Our effective income tax rate in the fourth quarter of 2023 was negative 60.2%, which is more favorable than the statutory rate, inclusive of state income taxes. primarily due to a tax benefit related to non-taxable gains on the investments used to fund our deferred compensation liability, and a discrete tax benefit for share-based compensation awards that are vested during the quarter, and the positive impact of certain federal tax credits. On a full-year basis, our effective income tax rate for 2023 was 25.5%, which is more favorable than the statutory rate, inclusive of state income taxes, primarily due to a discrete tax benefit for share-based compensation awards defested during the year and the positive impact of certain federal tax credits. These favorable items were partially offset by certain non-deductible expense items. Adjusted EBITDA was $41.4 million in Q4 2023 for 12.2% of revenues, compared to $39 million in Q4 2022 for 12.4% of revenues. For full year 2023, adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenues increased 70 basis points to 12.3% compared to 11.6% in 2022. The increase in full-year adjusted EBITDA reflects higher consult utilization, improved pricing, expanded deployment of our global delivery capabilities, and lower corporate SG&A expense as a percentage of revenues in 2023 compared to 2022. after adjusting for the impact of our deferred compensation plan liability. Partially offsetting these factors is continued investment in the growth of our business and increased bonus compensation related to the strong performances across our business. Adjusted net income was $25.1 million for $1.29 per diluted share, compared to $22.6 million for $1.12 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2022. For the full year, 2023 adjusted net income was $96.2 million for $4.91 per diluted share, compared with $71.1 million for $3.43 per diluted share in 2022. Now I'll discuss the performance of each of our operating segments. The healthcare segment generated 51% of total company revenues during the fourth quarter of 2023. The segment posted revenues of $172 million up $18.7 million, or 12.2% from the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase in revenues in the quarter was driven by strong demand for digital, strategy and innovation, performance improvement, and financial advisory offerings. On a full year basis, healthcare revenue increased 26% to $674 million, compared to $535 million in 2022. Also driven by strong demand for our performance improvement and digital offerings, as well as our financial advisory and strategy and innovation offerings. In 2023, our consulting and managed services capabilities in healthcare, which is our largest capability company-wide, grew 30%. Operating income margin for healthcare was 25.9% in both Q4 2023 and Q4 2022. On a full year basis, the healthcare segment's operating income margin was 25.7%, compared to 24.5% in 2022. The increase in operating income margin year over year was primarily due to revenue growth outpacing compensation costs for our revenue-generating professionals, partially offset by an increase in contractor expenses. The education segment generated 31% of total company revenues during the fourth quarter of 2023. The education segment posted revenues of $103.8 million, up $7.2 million 7.4% from the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase in revenues in the quarter was primarily driven by demand for our digital offerings. On a full-year basis, education segment revenues grew 19.4% year-over-year, driven by demand for our technology, analytic services, and software products within our digital capability, as well as increased demand for our strategy, operations, and research solutions within our consulting and managed services capabilities. The operating income margin for education was 21.2% before 2023, compared to 20.8% in the same quarter in 2022. The increase in operating income margin in the quarter was primarily driven by decreased restructuring and contractor expenses, partially offset by increased compensation costs for our revenue generating professionals. On a full year basis, operating income margin was 23.1% compared to 21.9% in 2022, primarily due to a decrease in contractor expenses, partially offset by increases in compensation costs for our revenue-generating professionals and technology expenses. The commercial segment generated 18% of total company revenues during the fourth quarter of 2023, with revenues of $63.5 million compared to $63.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. On a full-year basis, commercial segment revenues increased 8.7% to $258.4 million compared to $237.6 million in 2022. The increase in full-year revenues was driven by strong demand for financial advisory and digital offerings. Operating income margin for the commercial segment was 22.4% for Q4 2023 compared to 18.4% for the same quarter in 2022. The increase in operating income margin in the quarter was primarily driven by decreases in compensation costs for our revenue generating professionals and contractor expenses. On a full year basis, commercial segment operating income margin was relatively even at 21% in 2023 compared to 21.1% in 2022. Corporate expenses not allocated at the segment level and excluding restructuring charges were $45.2 million in Q4 2023 compared to $40.1 million in Q4 2022. Unallocated corporate expenses in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 2022 included $3.2 million and $1.8 million, respectively, of expense related to the increase in the liability of our deferred compensation plan, which is offset by the investment gained on the assets used to fund that plan reflected in other income. including the impact of the deferred compensation plan in both periods, unallocated corporate expenses increased $3.7 million, primarily due to increased compensation costs for our support personnel and third-party professional services expenses. On a full-year basis, corporate expenses not allocated at the segment level increased to $174.8 million, including $5.5 million of expense related to the deferred compensation plan compared to $136.5 million of unallocated corporate expenses in 2022, which included a $6.9 million reduction of expense related to the deferred compensation plan. Excluding the impact of the deferred compensation plan in both periods, unallocated corporate expenses increased $25.9 million, primarily driven by an increase in compensation costs for our support personnel, as well as increases in third-party professional services expenses and software and data hosting expenses. Now turning to the balance sheet and cash flows. Total debt as of December 31st, 2023 was $324 million, consisting entirely of our senior bank debt. We finished the year with cash of $12.1 million for net debt of $311.9 million. This was a $36.8 million decrease in net debt compared to Q3 2023. The fourth quarter included $34.9 million of share repurchases, or approximately 345,000 shares. The leverage ratio defined in our senior bank agreement was 1.6 times adjusted EBITDA as of December 31st, 2023, compared to 1.9 times adjusted EBITDA as of December 31st, 2022. Cash flow generated from operations for 2023 was $135.3 million. We used $35.2 million of our cash to invest in capital expenditures, inclusive of internally developed software costs, purchases of property and equipment, resulting in free cash flow of $100.1 million. In addition, in 2023, we used $123.6 million to repurchase approximately 1.5 million shares, representing 7.4% of our outstanding shares as of the beginning of the year. and we used $1.6 million for strategic tuck-in acquisitions. As of December 31st, 2023, $86.2 million remained available for share repurchases under our current share repurchase program. DSO came in at 87 days for the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to 83 days for the third quarter of 2023, and 77 days for the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase in DSO during the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter reflects the impact of contractual payment schedules for certain larger healthcare projects. Today we also announced that we have amended our senior secured credit facility to include a $275 million term loan in addition to our existing $600 million revolving credit facility, both of which matured in November of 2027. The proceeds from the term loan will be used to reduce borrowings of the company's revolving credit facility which increases the company's capacity for investment by $275 million. This expanding capacity will enable us to continue executing our balanced capital deployment strategy, inclusive of strategic token acquisitions and returning capital to shareholders through targeted share purposes. Finally, let me turn to our expectations and guidance for 2024, which contemplates our pending acquisition of GG&A. For the full year of 2024, we anticipate revenues before reimbursable expenses in a range of $1.46 billion to $1.54 billion. Adjusted EBITDA in a range of 12.8% to 13.3% of revenues. An adjusted non-GAAP EPS in a range of $5.35 to $5.95. We expect cash flows from operations to be in a range of $155 to $185 million. Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $40 million, inclusive of costs to develop our market-facing products and analytical tools. And free cash flows are expected to be in a range of $115 to $145 million, net of cash taxes and interest, and excluding non-cash stock compensation. Weighted average diluted share count for 2024 expected to be in a range of 19 million to 19.5 million shares. Finally, with respect to taxes, you should assume an effective tax rate in the range of 28% to 30%, which compromises the federal tax rate of 21%, a blended state tax rate of 5% to 6%, and an incremental tax expense related to certain non-deductible expense items. Let me add some color to our guidance, starting with revenue. The midpoint of the revenue range reflects 10% growth over 2023. As Mark mentioned, while we are proud of the accelerated 20% plus growth we achieved in 2022 and 2023, we believe that our guidance aligns with a more normalized level of growth for our business and is consistent with our previously stated medium-term financial objectives. We remain focused on executing our growth strategy across all segments of our business and have fully aligned the incentives of our managing directors and principals with our strategic goals and integrated operating model with regard to our healthcare segment we expect mid to high single digit percentage revenue growth for the full year 2024 we expect operating margins will be in a range of 25 to 27 percent in the education segment we expect low team percentage revenue growth for school year 2024 inclusive of a mid to high-keen million dollar contribution for 10 months of GG&A, and we expect operating margins will be in a range of approximately 24 to 26%. In the commercial segment, we expect to see low double-digit percentage revenue growth for 2024. We expect our operating margins in this segment to be in a range of approximately 21 to 23%. We expect unallocated corporate SG&A to increase in the low to mid single-digit percentage range year-over-year. Also in the first quarter, consistent with prior years, we note the following items as it relates to expenses. The reset of wage basis for FICA and our 401k match, our annual merit and promotion wage increases go into effect on January 1st, and an increase in stock compensation expense for restricted stock awards, though granted in March to retirement-eligible employees. Based on these factors, we anticipate approximately 15 to 20 percent of our full-year adjusted EBITDA and full-year adjusted EPS to be generated during the first quarter, consistent with the pattern we have seen for the last several years. As a closing reminder, with respect to 2024 adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, and adjusted EPS, there are several items that you will need to consider when reconciling these non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures. The reconciliation schedules that we included in our press release will help walk you through these reconciliations. Thanks, everyone. I'd now like to open the call to questions. Operator?