Kelly, a leading specialty talent solutions provider, has reported its fourth-quarter 2023 earnings, highlighting a 59% increase in adjusted operating earnings to $22.1 million. The company's Q4 revenue remained flat, with a 1.3% decrease in constant currency, while the adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 60 basis points to 2.6%. These improvements were attributed to a significant reduction in operating expenses resulting from business transformation initiatives.
Peter Quigley, President and CEO of Kelly, commented on the results, stating, "In the fourth quarter, we captured steady demand in education and most of our outcome-based specialties in P&I, which continue to demonstrate resilience amid a challenging operating environment." He also expressed confidence in the company's future outlook, emphasizing the progress on transformation initiatives and the completion of the sale of Kelly’s European staffing operations, which unlocked over $100 million of capital and additional net margin expansion.
Quigley further highlighted the company's enhanced EBITDA margin, stating, "Taken together, these accomplishments have propelled Kelly’s EBITDA margin to 3% entering 2024 – a step change from the company’s historical average of approximately 2%. As we continue to build a more efficient, effective, and focused enterprise, I am confident we are well positioned to capture increased customer demand when the operating environment rebounds and accelerate profitable growth."
The company also announced a dividend of $0.075 per share, payable on March 13, 2024, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 27, 2024.
In conjunction with its earnings release, Kelly has published a financial presentation on its investor relations page and will host a conference call to review the results.
Following the earnings report, the company's shares have moved 7.2%, reaching a trading price of $23.01.
The company's full 8-K submission is available here.
