Tue, 27 Oct 2015

US-based international executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles has posted a 10% net revenue increase to US$138.4m (£90.2m) in the three months to 30 September.

The firm revealed it had suffered from exchange rate fluctuations, costing it $7.3m over the quarter.

Its largest division, executive search and leadership consulting, saw net revenue increase by 11.0% year-on-year to $129.2m. This rise was driven by a 20.4% increase in the Americas to $78.3m. The Asia-Pacific region also performed well, with net revenue increasing by 7.4%, or 18.5% on a constant currency basis, to $25m.

Revenue from Europe, however, declined by 4.6% year-on-year to $25.9m, although this was significantly hampered by currency exchange rates. In constant currency terms, revenue in this region grew by 7.5%.

The global technology & services, healthcare & life sciences and financial services practices were the primary drivers of year-on-year growth in the executive search and leadership consulting division. 

Net revenue from the firm’s other division, culture shaping, declined 11.2% year-on-year to $9.2m. The company noted that Q3 2014 was a "record revenue quarter". The impact of exchange rate fluctuations damaged results in this division too, by $200k or 1.5%.

Operating income in the quarter increased 35.3% year-on-year to $12.9m with operating margin (operating income as a percentage of net revenue) at 9.3%.  This compares to operating income of $9.6m and operating margin of 7.6% in Q3 2014.