Kelly Services Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) reported first-quarter revenue fell 1.4% year over year in constant currency to $1.27 billion. The Troy, Michigan-based staffing giant noted demand for specialty talent remains, but the broader staffing market was impacted by economic uncertainty.
When measured on an organic basis, first-quarter revenue was roughly flat (down 0.5% when measured on both an organic and constant currency basis), according to Kelly. Results were also impacted by the sale of the Russian operations in July 2022 as well as the acquisitions of RPO provider RocketPower and school therapy services firm Pediatric Therapeutic Services.
“Taking into account well-recognized macroeconomic headwinds, we delivered solid results as our specialty solutions proved more resilient than others,” President and CEO Peter Quigley said. “Our education segment and our more profitable outcome-based solutions in both [professional and industrial] and [science, engineering and technology] continued to deliver solid growth, while, as expected, our staffing businesses faced decreased demand in this environment.”
US revenue rose 0.3% in the first quarter, while Canadian revenue increased 22.4% in constant currency. Puerto Rican revenue fell 2.3%, while revenue from Mexico was up 47.0% in constant currency. However, revenue was down in much of Europe with the exception of Portugal. Asia-Pacific revenue rose 6.5% in constant currency.
In Kelly’s outsourcing and consulting segment — which includes MSP, RPO, payroll process outsourcing and consulting — revenue fell 13.8% year over year in constant currency.
Perm placement revenue fell 33.3% on a constant currency basis year over year to $17.5 million.
The first quarter included a restructuring charge of $5.7 million.
Share price and market cap
KELYA shares were up 5.93% to $17.33 as of 11:54 a.m. Eastern time; they were 29.23% above their 52-week low, according to FT.com. The company had a market cap of $606.8 million.