Robert Ramirez
Analyst · Griffin Securities
Thank you, Ted. I will cover the following topics during the call: An overview of our 2011 fourth quarter results, along with an overview of related key operating statistics; an overview of our cash flow activities during the quarter; and as Ted mentioned, I'll conclude with a discussion on our financial outlook for the first quarter of 2012, as well as an overview of our stock tender offer and credit facility.
For purposes of this call, any references to Hackett Group will specifically exclude ERP Solutions. Correspondingly, I will comment separately regarding the financial results of The Hackett Group, ERP Solutions and the total company.
Please note that all references to gross revenues in my discussion represent net revenues plus reimbursable expenses. Additionally, references to pro-forma results specifically exclude noncash stock compensation expense and intangible asset amortization expense and assume a normalized tax rate of 40%.
Before I move on to our fourth quarter results, I'd like to make a few comments regarding our annual results for 2011. As Ted mentioned, 2011 proved to be a strong year in terms of revenue and earnings growth. Annual revenues grew to $225 million, a 12% increase from 2010. Pro-forma earnings per diluted share grew to $0.33 in 2011 from $0.27 in 2010, an increase of 22%. For 2011, pro-forma EBITDA was $24.7 million as compared to $20.6 million in the previous year, representing an increase of 20%. On a year-to-date basis, pro-forma EBITDA expanded 90 basis points from 11.4% to 12.3% of net revenues.
Moving on to the fourth quarter, as I mentioned on our third quarter call, when discussing our fourth quarter guidance the fourth quarter was negatively impacted by the typical seasonal increase in holidays and vacation utilized in both the U.S. and Europe which unfavorably impacted available days by approximately 10% on a sequential basis. Having said that, for the fourth quarter of 2011, Total company gross revenues were $55.5 million, and at the high end of our quarter's guidance. This represents year-over-year growth of 14%. Total company international gross revenues accounted for 24% of total company revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011 as compared to 23% in the fourth quarter of 2010, which was primarily driven by growth in Australia. Gross revenues for The Hackett Group, which excludes ERP Solutions were approximately $45 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 representing a year-over-year increase of 16%. Hackett Group annualized gross revenue per professional was $353,000 as compared to $321,000 in the fourth quarter of 2010 and $366,000 in the previous quarter. The sequential decrease in revenue and revenue per professional is primarily due to the seasonal decrease in available days.
Our ERP Solutions group gross revenue totaled $10.3 million, which represented a year-over-year increase of 7%. ERP Solutions hourly gross realized billing rate per hour was $139 as compared to $134 in the previous quarter and $124 in the fourth quarter of 2010. This includes the impact of our offshore resources which approximate nearly 40% of our ERP implementation resources. ERP Solutions consultant utilization was 65% for the fourth quarter of 2011 as compared to 78% in the previous year. The prior year benefited from strong year end go-live activity in our SAP practice.
Total company pro-forma cost of sales, excluding reimbursable expenses and stock compensation expense, totaled $30.1 million or 61% of net revenues, as compared to $26.9 million or 62% of net revenues in the previous year. This year-over-year increase is primarily a result of ERP Solutions revenue mix. Total company consultant headcount was 713 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011 as compared to 746 in the previous quarter and 663 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010. The sequential decrease was primarily attributable to headcount adjustments in selected practices, as well as a reduction in utilization of subcontractors. Total company pro-forma gross margin, which excludes noncash stock compensation expense, was 39.2% of net revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011 as compared to 38.5% in the fourth quarter of 2010. Hackett Group gross margin on net revenues was 40% in the fourth quarter of 2011, as compared to the 38% in the prior year. ERP Solutions gross margin on net revenues was 38% in the fourth quarter of 2011, as compared to 41% in the previous year. This decrease was primarily driven by lower utilization on a year-over-year basis as we increase headcount throughout the year.
Pro-forma SG&A was approximately $13.4 million or 27% of net revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011, as compared to $12.2 million or 28% of net revenues in the fourth quarter of 2010. This 80-basis-point improvement is primarily due to expanded SG&A leverage resulting from increased revenues. Total company pro-forma net income for the fourth quarter totaled $3.6 million, or $0.09 per diluted share and was at the high-end of our guidance. This performance compares to pro-forma net income of $2.8 million, or $0.07 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2010. Total company pro-forma net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 excludes noncash stock compensation expense of $1.1 million, intangible asset amortization expense of $204,000 and assumes a normalized tax rate of 40%, which amounted to $2.4 million.
From a year-to-date perspective, total company pro-forma net income totaled $13.6 million, or $0.33 per diluted share as compared to $11.2 million or $0.27 per diluted share in 2010. Pro-forma EBITDA on the fourth quarter of 2011 was $6.6 million or 13.4% of net revenues, as compared to $5.1 million or 11.8% of net revenues from the fourth quarter of 2010.
During the fourth quarter, the company released $5.3 million of previously established deferred tax valuation allowances against its deferred tax assets, which is reflected as a non-cash tax benefit in our GAAP P&L. As a result, total company GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 totaled $9.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted share. Excluding the tax valuation allowance adjustment, GAAP EPS for the fourth quarter would have been $0.11 per share. This compares to GAAP net income of $3 million, or $0.07 per diluted share in the previous year.
As of the end of the fourth quarter, the company had approximately $40 million and $12 million of income tax loss carryforwards remaining in the U.S. and in foreign tax jurisdictions, respectively.
Now turning to cash. The company's cash balances were $33.8 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, as compared to $19.6 million at the end of our previous quarter. This cash increase was driven by net cash provided by operating activities for the fourth quarter of 2011 and was offset by stock buybacks and capital expenditures. Net cash provided by operations in the fourth quarter was $16.9 million, which was primarily driven by operating earnings, decreases in accounts receivable, increases of accrued expenses, primarily relating to the timing of U.S. payroll, related items and increases in deferred revenue and increase in accounts payable due to the timing of indirect payments.
Capital expenditures for the fourth quarter were $784,000 primarily related to the development of The Hackett Performance Exchange offering. Our DSO, or days sales outstanding at the end of the fourth quarter were 58 days as compared to 60 days at the end of the third quarter. During the fourth quarter of 2011, cash was utilized to repurchase approximately 561,000 shares of the company's common stock at an average price of $3.47 per share for a total cost of $1.9 million. On a year-to-date basis, the company repurchased approximately 2.3 million shares for a total cost of $9 million at an average price of $3.84. At the end of the fourth quarter, the company had approximately 556,000 remaining in its stock repurchase program authorization.
Before I move to guidance for the first quarter of 2012, I would like to remind everyone of the seasonality of our business relative to costs as we move from Q4 to Q1. Specifically, consistent with the first quarter guidance provided in previous years, our first quarter guidance for 2012 will reflect a sequential increase in U.S. payroll-related taxes and the sequential buildup of our vacation accruals. We expect total company gross revenues for the first quarter 2012 to be in the range of $54.5 million to $56.5 million. For the quarter, we expect The Hackett Group to be up nicely on a year-over-year basis and we expect the ERP group to be down. Consistent with the first quarter of the last 2 years, we expect to exit the first quarter at a run rate at least 10% higher than our entry rate. This is the result of client 2012 budgeted initiatives not ramping up fully until mid-February. Relative to pro-forma diluted earnings per share, our first quarter will be negatively impacted up to $0.03 due to the traditional increase in U.S. payroll-related taxes and the seasonal sequential buildup of vacation accruals when compared to the last quarter. As such, we expect our pro-forma diluted earnings per share in the first quarter of 2012 to be in the range of $0.06 to $0.08 per diluted share. Since the completion of the stock tender offer will be towards the end of the first quarter, it will not impact our first quarter guidance or results.
Given our current introductory pricing strategy on our Hackett Performance Exchange initiative, we expect the increased depreciation and selling cost to be dilutive in the first half of 2012, but neutral to slightly accretive in the second half of the year. Our pro-forma guidance excludes amortization expense, noncash stock compensation expense and includes a normalized tax rate of 40%. As a result of our revenue guidance, we expect pro-forma gross margin on net revenues to be approximately 36% to 38% in the first quarter. We expect pro-forma SG&A for the first quarter to be approximately $14 million. We expect first quarter pro-forma EBITDA on net revenues to be in the range of approximately 10% to 12%.
Now let me provide some details regarding our stock tender offer that Ted mentioned. The company announced today a stock tender offer to repurchase up to $55 million in value of its common stock at a price not greater than $5 nor less than $4.25 per share. The offer is scheduled to expire on March 21, 2012. We are conducting the stock tender offer through a procedure commonly called a modified Dutch auction. This procedure allows stockholders to select the price within the specified range set by the company at which shareholders are willing to sell their shares. The company will select the single lowest purchase price within the range that will allow the company to purchase $55 million in value of shares at such price based on the number of shares tendered. The offer is only being made pursuant to the offering materials and related detailed documentation which the company will file tomorrow with the SEC. Any specific questions should be addressed directly with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the dealer manager for the offer or Georgeson the information agent for the offer. Their contact information can be found in the press release we issued tonight announcing the offer or in the tender offer materials being filed with the SEC tomorrow. Additionally, the company also announced that it has entered into a 5-year, $50 million credit facility with Bank of America. Under the credit agreement, Bank of America has agreed to lend the company up to $20 million from time to time pursuant to a revolving line of credit and up to $30 million pursuant to a term loan. The loans under the credit facility will bear interest of up to 3% based on current market rate indexes. The proceeds of the term loan will be used along with cash on hand for the purchase of the shares in the tender offer along with related fees associated with the offer and the credit facility, which we estimate to be approximately $1 million.
Lastly, we expect our cash balances to be down from Q4 as we plan to use up to $20 million in cash to fund the tender offer. In addition, during the first quarter, we will pay 2011 performance bonuses as well as costs associated with the tender offer and credit facility. At this point, I would like to turn it back over to Ted to review our market outlook and strategic priorities for the coming months.