Kelly Services reports Q3 adjusted EPS 21c, consensus 36c

Reports Q3 revenue $1.04B, consensus $1.07B. Peter Quigley, president and chief executive officer, announced revenue for the third quarter of 2024 totaled $1.04 billion, a 7.1% decrease compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023 resulting primarily from the sale of the company’s European staffing operations on January 2, 2024, partially offset by the May 2024 acquisition of MRP. Excluding the impact of the sale of the European staffing operations and the recent acquisition of MRP, revenue was down 0.2% on an organic basis, reflecting a stabilization of year-over-year revenues for the second consecutive quarter despite the continued impact of customers’ more guarded approach to hiring, initiating new projects, and backfilling open roles. MRP revenue added 11.2% to reported Q3 year-over-year revenue growth. Kelly reported operating earnings in the third quarter of 2024 of $2.6 million, compared to earnings of $0.1 million reported in the third quarter of 2023. Adjusted earnings were $11.7 million in the third quarter of 2024. The $9.1 million increase from reported earnings includes costs related to MRP integration and further aligning processes and technology across the Company, as well as charges related to the acquisition of MRP and the sale of our European staffing operations. The acquisition of MRP added $2.0 million of earnings from operations in the third quarter of 2024. Adjusted earnings in the third quarter of 2023 were $15.5 million. The $15.4 million increase from reported earnings included transformation-related charges. The European staffing operations produced $0.8 million of earnings from operations on an adjusted basis in the third quarter of 2023. Earnings per share in the third quarter of 2024 were $0.02 compared to earnings per share of $0.18 in the third quarter of 2023. Included in earnings per share in the third quarter of 2024 are costs related to MRP integration and further aligning processes and technology across the Company as well as charges related to the acquisition of MRP and the sale of our European staffing operations, net of tax, of $0.18. Included in the earnings per share in the third quarter of 2023 were $0.32 per share of transformation-related restructuring charges, net of tax. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were $0.21 in the third quarter of 2024 compared to $0.50 per share in the corresponding quarter of 2023. “In the third quarter, we remained focused on what we can control as uncertain macroeconomic market conditions persisted, and once again delivered stable year-over-year organic revenue that outpaced the market,” said Quigley. “Contributing to this trend is continued double-digit revenue growth in Education, our ongoing expansion into the market for higher-margin outcome-based solutions in SETT and P&I, and sequential stability in MSP and RPO revenue in OCG. We expect to build on our momentum as we close the year, propelled by our growth and efficiency initiatives which are positioning Kelly to capitalize when staffing demand rebounds and continue delivering above-market performance.”