The Hackett Group Announces Thrid Quarter 2017 Results

November 7, 2017
5 Min Read
  • Q3 2017 gross revenue of $71.5 million, net revenue of $65.9 million and pro forma EPS of $0.26, all at high end of guidance
  • Board declares semi-annual dividend of $0.15 for shareholders of record on December 22, 2017
  • Company acquires CIMA’s joint venture interest in Certified GBS training and certification program

MIAMI, FL – November 7, 2017 – The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT), a global intellectual property-based strategic consultancy and leading enterprise benchmarking and best practices implementation firm, today announced its financial results for the third quarter, which ended on September 29, 2017.

Q3 2017 gross revenue was $71.5 million, down 4% from prior year, and net revenue (gross revenue less reimbursable expenses) was $65.9 million, down 1% from prior year. Q3 2017 pro forma diluted earnings per share were $0.26, up 4% when compared to $0.25 for the same period in 2016. Pro forma information is provided to enhance the understanding of the Company’s financial performance and is reconciled to the Company’s GAAP information in the accompanying tables.

GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.17 for both the third quarter of 2017 and 2016.

At the end of the third quarter of 2017, the Company’s cash balances were $16.2 million. During the quarter, the Company utilized cash to repurchase 250 thousand shares of the Company’s common stock at an average price per share of $14.21 for a total of $3.5 million. As of the end of the third quarter of 2017, the Company’s remaining stock repurchase program authorization was $3.1 million.

In its recent meeting, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.15 per share for shareholders of record on December 22, 2017, to be paid on January 5, 2018.

The Hackett Group today, in a separate release, also announced the launch of The Hackett Institute, offering professional education programs informed by The Hackett Group’s unmatched intellectual property derived from its benchmarking data, proprietary research and Best Practices Intelligence Center™. Concurrent with the launch of the Hackett Institute, The Hackett Group announced that it has acquired the interest of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in its Certified GBS Professionals® program, which the two organizations launched as a joint project in 2015. With the launch of The Hackett Institute, The Hackett Group has also made available Analytics Foundations, the first course in its Certified Enterprise Analytics Professionals (CEAP) program.

“We delivered solid results while continuing to aggressively migrate our business to our expanded Oracle Cloud Applications capabilities,” stated Ted A. Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of The Hackett Group. “Additionally, our recent recognition as Oracle EPM Cloud Partner of the Year and favorable reviews of our Digital Transformation Platform, which premiered at Oracle OpenWorld, bode well for our Cloud and digital transformation growth prospects.”

Based on the current economic outlook, the Company estimates total net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2017 to be in the range of $61.5 million to $63.5 million or gross revenue (inclusive of reimbursable expenses of 8%) to be in the range of $66.5 million to $68.5 million. The Company estimates pro forma diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $0.25 to $0.27. At the high end of the guidance, pro forma EPS would increase 4% when compared to prior year.

Other Highlights

The Hackett Group and ADP Expand Strategic Alliance – The Hackett Group and ADP® announced an expansion to their strategic alliance that will offer midsized companies new to ADP Workforce Now® access to The Hackett Group’s benchmarking tool, metrics, best practices, research and performance studies. These offerings are aimed at helping ADP Workforce Now users improve their HCM performance and monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of their HR operations.

Quantum Leap Launched – The Hackett Group announced the launch of Quantum Leap, a game-changing digital benchmarking and performance improvement platform that dramatically speeds up the benchmarking process, enabling companies to intelligently assess performance gaps, frame world-class solutions and ensure improvement success within general and administrative (G&A) areas such as corporate finance, procurement, human resources, and information technology.

The Hackett Group Achieves Oracle Cloud Premiere Status – The Hackett Group, a Platinum level member of Oracle Partner Network (OPN), announced it has achieved the Cloud Premier designation within the OPN Cloud program. The OPN Cloud program enables members to showcase their expertise, skills and investment in Oracle Cloud, as well as differentiate themselves with Oracle’s integrated cloud applications and platform services.

Digital Transformation Platform Launched – At Oracle OpenWorld 2017, The Hackett Group launched its Digital Transformation Platform™, a proprietary Oracle Cloud diagnostic and implementation system. Using the platform, companies can improve ROI and optimize their Oracle cloud configurations using The Hackett Group’s performance targets, best practices and inventory of optimized cloud configuration solutions. This platform allows companies to quickly and easily identify areas of opportunity and performance gaps by leveraging The Hackett Group’s nearly 2,000 certified best practices. Specifically, this platform takes the client through a user-friendly portal to: clarify which practices and performance targets are most relevant to their situation; connect the client to the associated practices and performance levels necessary to achieve those benefits; and create a direct linkage from targets and best practices to how the related Oracle Cloud modules (ERP, HCM, EPM) should be used and configured to realize target improvements.

On Tuesday, November 7, 2017, senior management will discuss third quarter results in a conference call at 5:00 P.M. ET. The number for the conference call is (844) 358-9115, [Passcode: Third Quarter, The Hackett Group Earnings]. For International callers, please dial (209) 905-5950.

Please dial in at least 5-10 minutes prior to start time. If you are unable to participate on the conference call, a rebroadcast will be available beginning at 8:00 P.M. ET on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 and will run through 5:00 P.M. ET on Tuesday, November 21, 2017. To access the rebroadcast, please dial (855) 859-2056. For International callers, please dial (404) 537-3406, [Passcode: 99518204].

In addition, The Hackett Group will also be webcasting this conference call live through the StreetEvents.com service. To participate, simply visit www.thehackettgroup.com approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call and click on the conference call link provided. An online replay of the call will be available after 8:00 P.M. ET on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 and will run through 5:00 P.M. ET on Tuesday, November 21, 2017. To access the replay, visit www.thehackettgroup.com or www.streetevents.com.


 

Earnings Call Documents

 

SEC XBRL Filings

 

About The Hackett Group, Inc.

The Hackett Group (NASDAQ: HCKT) is an intellectual property-based strategic consultancy and leading enterprise benchmarking and best practices digital transformation firm to global companies, offering digital transformation including robotic process automation and enterprise cloud application implementation. Services include business transformation, enterprise analytics, working capital management and global business services. The Hackett Group also provides dedicated expertise in business strategy, operations, finance, human capital management, strategic sourcing, procurement and information technology, including its award-winning Oracle and SAP practices.

The Hackett Group has completed more than 17,850 benchmarking studies studies with major corporations and government agencies, including 93% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 90% of the Fortune 100, 80% of the DAX 30 and 57% of the FTSE 100. These studies drive its Best Practice Intelligence Center™ which includes the firm’s benchmarking metrics, best practices repository and best practice configuration guides and process flows, which enable The Hackett Group’s clients and partners to achieve world-class performance.

 

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause The Hackett Group’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that impact such forward-looking statements include, among others, the ability of our products, services, or offerings mentioned in this release to deliver the desired effect, our ability to effectively integrate acquisitions into our operations, our ability to retain existing business, our ability to attract additional business, our ability to effectively market and sell our product offerings and other services, including these referenced above, the timing of projects and the potential for contract cancellations by our customers, changes in expectations regarding the business consulting and information technology industries, our ability to attract and retain skilled employees, possible changes in collections of accounts receivable due to the bankruptcy or financial difficulties of our customers, risks of competition, price and margin trends, foreign currency fluctuations, changes in general economic conditions and interest rates, our ability to obtain debt financing through additional borrowings under an amendment to our existing credit facility as well as other risks detailed in our Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.