Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Resources Connection, Inc. Conference Call. Currently, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session and instructions will follow at that time. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to remind everyone that management will be commenting on results for fourth quarter ended May 27, 2023. They will also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. An explanation and reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures are included in the press release issued today. Today's press release can be viewed in the Investor Relations section at RGP's website and also filed today with the SEC. Also, during this call, management will make forward-looking statements regarding plans, initiatives, and strategies, and the anticipated financial performance of the company. Such statements are predictions and actual events or results may differ materially. Please see the Risk Factors section in RGP's report on Form 10-K for the year ended May 28, 2022, for a discussion of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the company's business, results of operations, and financial condition to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made during this call. Such discussion will also be included in the Risk Factors section in RGP's report on Form 10-K for the year ended May 27, 2023, which will be filed on July 25, 2023. I'll now turn the call over to RGP’s CEO, Kate Duchene.

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon everyone and thanks for being with us. We are proud of our performance during the fourth quarter and throughout fiscal ‘23, a year in which we delivered growth and improved profitability despite the choppiness of the macro environment. We strengthened the company financially and improved consultant and client retention. We are continuing to change the way the world works. Coming out of the pandemic, we have seen fundamental and lasting shifts in how professionals want to work and how companies want to get work done. We are delivering agile consulting to clients with experts who execute. Without the constraints of a bench model, we give experts choice and control over their projects so that when they engage on a project, it is because they want to deliver impact in the client's business. They are engaging in work that they want to accomplish. This resonates with clients who are weary of the traditional partnership model in which swarms of junior consultants with high bill rates get assigned to engagements without choice and often learn on the client's dime. We know there's a better way of getting consulting work done and are delivering that approach to the world's biggest and best brands. Turning to the numbers. In Q4, we achieved $184.4 million in revenue, which exceeded the high end of guidance. Gross margin remained strong at 41.1%, again exceeding the high end of guidance. Run rate SG&A spend was $52.5 million, coming in more favorable than guidance. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.6% for the quarter, in line with our stated goal of improving to mid-teen performance. With respect to full year performance, I'll highlight three points. We grew 1% year-over-year organically. Given the declining and uncertain macro environment during the second half of our fiscal year due…

Thank you, Kate, and good afternoon, everyone. During the fourth quarter, we saw solid revenue performance and operational metrics particularly given the macro environment with revenue of $184.4 million, which exceeded the top end of our quarterly guidance. Overall demand was strong, even as delayed starts and reduced project scopes persisted as clients continue to work through challenges in their business. Pipeline and opportunity endure, although comp conversion into engagements remains slower than traditional pace, driven by more judicious budget planning and scrutiny within our client base. These opportunities represent key initiatives for important clients, which although they require more persistence, represent real upside for our business, as we continue to take share from larger competitors. Regional performance was reflective of the overall environment with Veracity and Countsy demonstrating solid growth over prior year quarter. Our international business showed fortitude as Europe generated sequential growth and Asia Pacific posted strong results despite macro struggles in China. Our strategic accounts program demonstrated small growth on a year-to-date basis, but was down on a quarter-over-quarter basis. As we start fiscal ‘24, we know the overall market opportunity remains as companies continue to digest change and build transformation agendas that require flexibility in their workforce plan. The pace of required change for companies has not slowed, but the path to get there is more complex given both the dramatic adjustment in employee mindset, and a desire by companies to control the ultimate value of the shifts they make through the use of agile talent and co-delivery of important initiatives. The current environment provides a useful prism to view these shifts as speed, flexibility and ultimately value are the most important tenants of any solution demanded by clients today. These are hallmark traits of RGP, and we are seeing more opportunity to unseat, augment…

Thank you, Tim, and good afternoon, everyone. This quarter, we achieved revenue and gross margin performance, exceeding the high end of our outlook range and we remained disciplined with our costs, performing better than the favorable end of our run rate SG&A outlook, delivering strong adjusted EBITDA of $23.2 million or a 12.6% margin. While we outperformed our top-line outlook range provided in April, compared to Q4 fiscal '22, we had elevated revenues as clients emerged from the pandemic. Revenue was down 11.5% on a same day constant currency basis and excluding task force divested in May of 2022. North America was down 12.6% while APAC declined 1.7% and Europe excluding task force declined by 5.6%. Bright spots in North America included Veracity and Countsy, both growing by double digits year-over-year. Despite the tough Q4 year-over-year comparisons, due to different revenue cadence throughout the two fiscal years, on a full year basis, same day, constant currency revenue grew 1% year-over-year after excluding taskforce, which made fiscal ‘23 one of the best years in over a decade, notwithstanding what has been an uncertain and challenging environment. Gross margin in the quarter was 41.1%. We continue to make good progress on raising bill rates, driving an improvement in the pay bill ratio of 146 basis points. Our US average bill rate rose 4% compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal '22 with Europe and Asia Pac driving 8% and 1% improvement on a constant currency basis. Excluding taskforce, enterprise average bill rate for the quarter was $130 constant currency, up from $129 a year ago, while average pay rate remains flat at $62. Turning to SG&A, we remain disciplined with cost management and continue to identify opportunities to streamline our cost structure. Our run rate SG&A expense for the quarter was $52.5…

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Marc Riddick with Sidoti. You may proceed.

Hi, good evening. So thank you for all the detail on the results. I was wondering if you can talk a little bit about the pricing advantages that you've had from some of the learnings and maybe you sort of take us through maybe some of the areas of where you're gaining on those pricing learnings and then I have a follow-up around headcount.

Yeah, I'll start and then I'll ask Tim to comment with more details. But we've undertaken a comprehensive review of our competitive set and really are digging into the opportunity for RGP. We have always been value oriented and believe that we really need to bring our rates up to continue to reinforce the expertise and the caliber of the consultants that are delivering for us. I mean, when you compare our model to the traditional big four, Marc, we're providing apples to oranges, if you will. The differentiators for RGP are really the speed to impact, the kind of judgment and experience our consultants can bring right away and we need to better reflect that in our pricing. So now I'll turn it to Tim and he can give you some real [Technical Difficulty] on how we're moving that initiative forward.

Yeah. Hi, Mark. How are you?

Very good.

I'll add to what Kate said. Specifically this year, we sort of went about it in two main ways. The first one was to the training and actually going back through and making sure that our entire go-to-market team received strategic pricing training. Some of that honestly was more of a having people kind of get back to the basics of thinking about pricing to value as opposed to thinking about cost plus. I think that's actually had a very significant impact. The second piece was governance. And honestly I think that has really started to kick-in in the second half where our sales leaders are really more involved in the projects and transactions that occur and ensuring that we are actually adhering to the standard that we set in terms of pricing to value. And then I think the third thing and Kate alluded to this was like really taking a hard review of our existing rate cards, both internally with respect to geographies enrolled, but also with respect to our existing clients and as we -- and using our strategic pricing team to help us with some of those negotiations as we go forward. So a lot of that is prospective and we think there's also an opportunity for us to look at some of our existing engagements where we've had teams out there for long stretches of time where we think there's some uplift capability there as well.

Okay, great. And then, so I can talk a little bit about the headcount that we're looking at as far as finishing the year a little over 31, consultant headcount around [31, ballpark 3,150] (ph). Is there sort of any thoughts as to sort of what we might see there as far as changes going forward. Hello?

Yeah. Hi, Mark. I think that what we're seeing is consistency as Jenn said as we move into Q1, we will have some seasonality in our consultant week to week as people take time-off. But we're holding steady right now.

Great. And then the last thing I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about some of the -- some of the -- what we've learned over the last -- since we last talked around sort of the learnings of the HUGO rollout and maybe some of the benefits. And maybe if there's been any changes as to given the green shoots that we hopefully are seeing in the economy, just wondering if you're seeing any differences as to how customers are approaching HUGO during the rollout? Thank you.

Sure. Thanks Mark for the question. In commercializing HUGO this year, we're really focused on three success factors. One is in the category of marketing/revenue and how are we proceeding against plan and we're on track in periods one and two. The second is talent and getting those talent registrations and approved talent on the platform and that's trending very nicely. We're above our goal on getting talent registrations in. And then the third is tech and really understanding through our marketing plan how are people responding to their interaction with the platform and do we then need to adjust the product technology in order to capture more registrations. So far, things are looking good. I mean, I highlighted in my prepared remarks what's happening in the accounting profession because I do think it's an opportunity for HUGO and we'll just have to see that play out as more and more accountants are leaving their more traditional profession to say how can I bring my skills to market in new ways? So it's early days. I don't want to overstate the opportunity there, but I think that not only are the trends moving in our direction but the product itself is performing well. So we look forward to seeing how fiscal ‘24 unfolds.

Great. Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Andre Childress with Baird. You may proceed.

Hello, this is Andre Childress on for Mark Marcon. Thank you for taking our questions. My first question is, could you provide the sequential trends by month and what you saw as the quarter progressed?

Hi, Andre. Yeah. Sure. I can do that. So at the start of the year in June and July, we're seeing the typical summer impact in the US and some of course in Europe and Asia Pac as well. Going into August though, we do think that typically in Europe, the vacation impact and holiday impact is more pronounced in August. Overall, I would say, compared to the end of Q4, the beginning of Q1 did slow down a bit due to the summer impact. But overall, the trend is in line with our expectation.

And then what about during the quarter. So the past few months in terms of how the fiscal Q4 quarter progressed?

Yeah. I would say it was steady throughout the quarter in Q4 throughout, meaning globally.

Okay, great. And then you talked a little bit about seeing some green shoots in your prepared remarks, you talked about what areas we're doing a little bit better specifically, Veracity. But could you maybe provide a little bit more context of what you're seeing there? What areas are you seeing some green shoots? And then maybe on the flip side, what areas are seeing a little bit more pressure or scrutiny?

Yeah. Hi, Andre. It's Kate and then I'll ask Tim to comment too. So I'll give you a real example of a conversation I had last week with client, a CFO of a Fortune 500 pharma company. And he is very focused on three areas and starting to see project work pickup in the area of cost cutting, especially as it relates to what Tim said around shift share, really looking at the provider set and saying where can we get more value out of who helps us? And that I think is a direct opportunity for RGP. The second is optimizing, we see a lot of our largest clients now turning to optimize their global business services or shared services functions whether that's increasing the movement to lower cost environments, bringing more AI or automation into what they do or improving the employee engagement, optimizing software choices like ServiceNow that are investments they've already made. And then I think third is we're starting to hear more about transactions coming back into play. And that can always be an opportunity for RGP. And those are the kind of green shoots that we're seeing.

Andre, let me just add a couple of things. One is, I think the tech sector, which has been under fire the whole year, we're starting to see some flying there as some of the reorganizations and some of the strategic decisions that were put into play in the early part of the year are starting to shake out. So starting to get some firmness around workforce plans and their project slates. I'd say the same thing is true about healthcare, at least in some of our large healthcare clients. I think financial services, even though there has been some good news generally about the economy and interest rates and things like that, it's still a little bit mixed there. So we have some clients that are starting to pursue things. And then we have other clients that are still sort of going through evaluations.

Great. Thank you. That's very helpful color. I'll just ask one more. You talked a little bit about capital allocation in the prepared remarks, but could you talk a little bit more about some of your priorities in the near term, whether that be share repurchases or investments organically?

Yeah, I can take that, Andre. Yes, I mean, we -- obviously we have the technology transformation project that is ongoing and that is a pretty significant investment in the mid-$30 million range. So we're focused on that right now and we also are looking to invest organically in our digital business, our Veracity business. So there's investment going in that in there as well. So given some of these inorganic investments that we're making, we, as always, we will carefully consider accelerating buybacks and raising dividends. And so just as a reminder, in fiscal ‘24, we spent $34 million in total on share repurchases and dividends. So that's roughly about probably more than 50% of our net income for the year and we'll continue to balance that going forward.

Great. Thank you for all the answers.

Thank you. And this concludes our Q&A session. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Kate Duchene for any closing remarks.

Josh, I see that we have somebody queued up. Can we open it to take one more call?

Yes. One moment for questions.

Thank you.

Our next question comes from Stephanie with JPMorgan. You may proceed.

Hi, Kate. Thank you for squeezing me in. Jenn, just on the guide for the first quarter, can you tell us what the organic constant currency same day basis revenue assumption is?

Yeah, sure. So at the top end of the range of $172 million, that's about a 16% decline from Q1 of last year, Q1 of fiscal '23. And I just want to remind everybody that Q1 of fiscal '23 is -- is the best Q1 that we had coming out of the pandemic since 2008. So it is a tough comparison. So -- but if you look at it on a same day basis at $172 million top end of the range, you're looking at about a 16% decline from last quarter -- last year same quarter.

Okay, great. And Kate, can you -- or Jenn, can you remind us how you feel about how RGP is tracking towards your fiscal 2025 financial targets just given the change in the environment, but then also just where we are currently given your comments about the economic environment, just how you're thinking about those targets that you put forth at Investor Day?

Yeah. I mean, I'll just start Stephanie quickly and then hand it to Jenn. I mean, I think we're in a more challenged environment. There's no question and it's not just RGP that's facing this, it's really every client we talk to. And all of our professional services competitive set. I mean, I can tell you we are working extremely hard not only on volume and capturing every opportunity, but increasing our pricing so that we drive upside on the top-line through more value-oriented pricing. So do I think that our range is still realistic? I think it's challenging, but I think it is realistic and we're working hard to achieve it. So with that, Jenn, do you have more specifics you'd like to offer?

No, I would agree with that. I mean, we are a year into the three-year time period. And we all know that it is -- our overall sector has been -- the broader sector has been challenged and has been sluggish. With that said, coming out of the pandemic in fiscal '22, we grew 28-plus-percent. So can we still get there? I think it's too early to change that range.

Yes, Stephanie, I'd also say one of our biggest initiatives and I really hope it's reflected in all of the models is our improvement in adjusted EBITDA and improving the profitability of the company. And we're really proud of what we're driving around enhanced shareholder value. So to me, it's not just top-line. It's the combination of return we're delivering for our shareholder base.

Yeah. Kate, I just have one more [indiscernible] thank you for bringing that up. The adjusted EBITDA, what we said on Investor Day was targeting 12% if you look at our adjusted EBITDA, we're already -- we've already exceeded that. And we have also said that longer term, we're targeting in mid-teen EBITDA and with some of the pricing initiatives that we're driving to continue to expand our gross margin and our SG&A without the one-time item assuming macro start to recover a bit, we should be able to run between 27% and 28%. And so that's how we're looking at our long-term EBITDA margin target is working towards that mid-teens number.

Okay. Great. Thank you. That all makes sense. Thanks very much.

Thank you. And I'd now like to turn the call back over to Kate Duchene for any closing remarks.

Thank you, operator. I want to thank everyone for your support of RGP, your interest in our company and what we're doing, again to change the way the world works. And we look forward to talking with you after Q1 in the fall. Thanks everyone and enjoy the summer.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.