News Release Details

Charles River Associates (CRA) Announces Third-Quarter Fiscal 2010 Financial Results

September 30, 2010
Company Delivers Increased Profitability and Higher Margins on a Non-GAAP Basis;
Generates Cash From Operations of $12 Million

BOSTON, Sep 30, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Charles River Associates (NASDAQ: CRAI), a worldwide leader in providing management, economic and financial consulting services, today announced financial results for its fiscal third quarter, the sixteen weeks ended September 3, 2010.

Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 was $84.6 million, compared with $89.3 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Non-GAAP revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 was $82.4 million, compared with $86.3 million in the same period of fiscal 2009. Sequential non-GAAP revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 on a normalized basis was $61.8 million compared with $66.3 million in the second quarter of 2010. With the third quarter consisting of 16 weeks, the Company is providing results on a "normalized" basis in order to compare it with the sequential second quarter, which is a 12-week period.

Net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 was $2.1 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared with net income of $2.6 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago. GAAP net income this quarter included a pre-tax expense of $1.8 million associated with restructuring, a $704,000 related tax benefit, and a $56,000 net loss associated with NeuCo. GAAP net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 included a $478,000 net loss associated with NeuCo. Excluding these items from both periods, non-GAAP net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 was $3.2 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, compared with $3.1 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, in the same period of fiscal 2009. On a normalized basis, the Company achieved non-GAAP third-quarter net income of $2.4 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, compared with $2.0 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2010.

A complete reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP financial information for the third quarters of fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2009, and the first three quarters of fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2009, as well as a non-GAAP comparison of the third quarter of fiscal 2010 on a normalized basis with the second quarter of fiscal 2010, is provided in the financial tables at the end of this release.

The Company ended the third quarter with cash and equivalents and short-term investments of $86.6 million, compared with $80.0 million at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2010.

Comments on the Third Quarter

"Our third-quarter results built upon the momentum we began to see in the second quarter of this year and reflect additional progress in reaching our goals for this fiscal year," said Paul Maleh, CRA's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We secured several large strategy engagements, with notable revenue contributions by our GIC and Marakon practices. Although our Litigation portfolio was impacted by the usual summer seasonality, we continue to see signs of performance trending upward."

"The highlight of our third-quarter financial results was our margin improvement, which drove increased profitability," Maleh said. "Despite lower revenue in the third quarter, on a non-GAAP basis, our gross profit margin and operating margin improved on both a year-over-year and sequential normalized basis. Our non-GAAP gross profit margin for the third quarter of 2010 was 34.1% as compared with 30.8% in the second quarter and 32.9% in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. We achieved a non-GAAP operating margin of 8.0% compared with 6.5% in the second quarter and 7.2% in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. The comprehensive series of restructuring initiatives we implemented during the past two years have streamlined our organization and focused our resources on growth and expense management. These actions contributed to utilization improving to 68% from 65% in the sequential second quarter and 60% in the first quarter."

"We were pleased to achieve cash flow from operations during the quarter of approximately $12 million. It enabled us to spend approximately $4 million on our ongoing stock buyback program, while still increasing our cash and short-term investments balance by nearly $7 million. We continue to maintain an excellent capital position, which affords us financial flexibility to execute our growth strategy," Maleh said.

Outlook

"Overall, we see signs of business conditions starting to improve within our markets as we continue to rebound from the difficult start to fiscal 2010," said Maleh. "Utilization, while still below our target levels, is trending upward. Our new business lead flow is healthy and we have an active pipeline of both Management Consulting and Litigation opportunities."

"Looking forward, our primary challenge continues to be the uncertain economic environment, which has the potential to limit near-term client spending on major consulting projects and disrupt litigation-related activity. However, we have substantially lowered CRA's overall cost structure during the past two years to create a leaner, more leverageable business model in the process. While we will continue to seek to align our cost structure with revenue, particularly our office leases, our primary focus now is on generating profitable growth and deepening our client relationships. We are on track to achieve our fiscal year goals. We are seeing some encouraging signs in our markets and are entering the fourth quarter cautiously optimistic," Maleh said.

Conference Call Information and Prepared CFO Remarks

CRA will host a conference call this morning at 9:00 a.m. ET to discuss its third quarter 2010 financial results. To listen to a live webcast of the call, please visit the Company's website at http://www.crai.com/ prior to the event's broadcast. To listen to the call via telephone, dial (201) 689-8881 or (877) 709-8155. Interested parties unable to participate in the live call may access an archived version of the webcast on CRA's website.

In combination with this press release, CRA is providing prepared remarks by its CFO Wayne Mackie under "Conference Call Materials" in the investor relations section on the Company's website at http://www.crai.com/. These remarks are offered to provide the investment community with additional background on CRA's financial results prior to the start of the conference call.

About Charles River Associates (CRA)

Charles River Associates® is a global consulting firm specializing in litigation, regulatory, and financial consulting, and management consulting. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its unique combination of functional expertise and industry knowledge, and for its objective solutions to complex problems. Headquartered in Boston, CRA has offices throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Detailed information about Charles River Associates, a registered trade name of CRA International, Inc., is available at http://www.crai.com/.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

In addition to reporting its financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, the Company has also provided in this release non-GAAP financial information. The Company believes the use of non-GAAP measures in addition to GAAP measures is an additional useful method of evaluating its results of operations. The Company believes that presenting its financial results excluding certain restructuring costs, non-cash expenses related to the repurchase of its convertible bonds, and NeuCo's results is important to investors and management because it is more indicative of its ongoing operating results and financial condition. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in conjunction with, but not as a substitute for, the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, and the expected results calculated in accordance with GAAP and reconciliations to those expected results should be carefully evaluated. The non-GAAP financial measures used by the Company may be calculated differently from, and therefore may not be comparable to, similarly titled measures used by other companies. Specifically, for the third quarter of fiscal 2010, the Company has excluded certain restructuring costs and NeuCo's results. For the second quarter of fiscal 2010, the Company has excluded certain restructuring costs, expenses related to the repurchase of its convertible bonds and NeuCo's results. For the third quarter of fiscal 2009, the Company has excluded NeuCo's results. In addition, the Company has provided normalized non-GAAP financial information for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 on a basis intended to convert the 16-week period to an "as if" 12-week period in order to provide an equivalent comparison to financial information for the 12-week second quarter of fiscal 2010.

Statements in this press release concerning the future business, operating results, estimated cost savings, and financial condition of the Company and statements using the terms "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "should," or similar expressions, are "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.These statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties.Information contained in these forward-looking statements is inherently uncertain and actual performance and results may differ materially due to many important factors.Such factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements made by the Company include, among others, the Company's restructuring costs and attributable annual cost savings, changes in the Company's effective tax rate, share dilution from the Company's convertible debt offering and stock-based compensation, dependence on key personnel, attracting and retaining qualified consultants, dependence on outside experts, utilization rates, factors related to its acquisitions, including integration of personnel, clients, offices, and unanticipated expenses and liabilities, the risk of impairment write downs to the Company's intangible assets, including goodwill, if the Company's enterprise value declines below certain levels, risks associated with acquisitions it may make in the future, risks inherent in international operations, the performance of NeuCo, changes in accounting standards, rules and regulations, changes in the law that affect its practice areas, management of new offices, the potential loss of clients, the ability of customers to terminate the Company's engagements on short notice, dependence on the growth of the Company's business consulting practice, the unpredictable nature of litigation-related projects, the ability of the Company to integrate successfully new consultants into its practice, general economic conditions, intense competition, risks inherent in litigation, and professional liability.Further information on these and other potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The Company cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievement.The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of its forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS INCLUDING A RECONCILIATION TO NON-GAAP RESULTS
FOR THE SIXTEEN WEEKS ENDED SEPTEMBER 3, 2010 COMPARED TO THE SIXTEEN WEEKS ENDED SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
(In thousands, except per share data)
                                   
    Sixteen Weeks Ended September 3, 2010     Sixteen Weeks Ended September 4, 2009 (as revised) (3)
        Adjustments to     Adjustments to             Adjustments to    
    GAAP   GAAP Results     GAAP Results     Non-GAAP     GAAP   GAAP Results   Non-GAAP
    Results   (Restructuring) (1)     (NeuCo) (2)     Results     Results   (NeuCo) (2)   Results
                                   
                                   
Revenues   $ 84,641     $ -       $ 2,195     $ 82,446       $ 89,262     $ 2,929     $ 86,333  
Costs of services     54,860       -         521       54,339         59,036       1,134       57,902  
Gross profit     29,781       -         1,674       28,107         30,226       1,795       28,431  
                                   
Selling, general and administrative expenses     22,906       1,625         1,519       19,762         21,744       1,775       19,969  
Depreciation and amortization     1,959       156         81       1,722         2,437       156       2,281  
Income (loss) from operations     4,916       (1,781 )       74       6,623         6,045       (136 )     6,181  
                                   
Interest and other income (expense), net     (1,143 )     -         (45 )     (1,098 )       (1,435 )     (47 )     (1,388 )
Income (loss) before (provision) benefit for income taxes     3,773       (1,781 )       29       5,525         4,610       (183 )     4,793  
(Provision) benefit for income taxes     (1,746 )     704         (129 )     (2,321 )       (2,425 )     (731 )     (1,694 )
Net income (loss)     2,027       (1,077 )       (100 )     3,204         2,185       (914 )     3,099  
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interest, net of tax     44       -         44       -         436       436       -  
Net income (loss) attributable to CRA International, Inc.   $ 2,071     $ (1,077 )     $ (56 )   $ 3,204       $ 2,621     $ (478 )   $ 3,099  
                                   
Net income per share attributable to CRA International, Inc.:                                  
Basic   $ 0.19                 $ 0.30       $ 0.25         $ 0.29  
Diluted   $ 0.19                 $ 0.30       $ 0.24         $ 0.29  
                                   
Weighted average number of shares outstanding:                                  
Basic     10,650                   10,650         10,627           10,627  
Diluted     10,734                   10,734         10,751           10,751  
                                   
                                   
(1) During the sixteen weeks ended September 3, 2010, the Company incurred pre-tax expenses of $1.8 million and related income tax effect of $0.7 million principally associated with the office space reductions in Boston and Chicago.
                                   
                                   
(2) These adjustments include activity related to NeuCo in the Company's GAAP results.
                                   
                                   
(3) These amounts are revised based upon the Company's adoption of FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 470-20, "Debt", which was formerly referred to as FASB Staff Position APB 14-1, "Accounting for Convertible Debt Instruments That May Be Settled in Cash upon Conversion (Including Partial Cash Settlement)". This standard changed the accounting treatment for convertible debt instruments.
                                                 
CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS INCLUDING A RECONCILIATION TO NON-GAAP RESULTS
FOR THE FORTY WEEKS ENDED SEPTEMBER 3, 2010 COMPARED TO THE FORTY WEEKS ENDED SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
(In thousands, except per share data)
                                                 
    Forty Weeks Ended September 3, 2010     Forty Weeks Ended September 4, 2009 (as revised) (4)
        Adjustments to   Adjustments to   Adjustments to             Adjustments to   Adjustments to   Adjustments to    
    GAAP   GAAP Results   GAAP Results   GAAP Results   Non-GAAP     GAAP   GAAP Results   GAAP Results   GAAP Results   Non-GAAP
    Results   (Restructuring) (1)   (Bond Buyback) (2)   (NeuCo) (3)   Results     Results   (Restructuring)   (Bond Buyback) (7)   (NeuCo) (3)   Results
                                                 
                                                 
Revenues   $ 211,562     $ -     $ -       $ 5,065     $ 206,497       $ 227,057     $ -       $ -       $ 7,076     $ 219,981  
Costs of services     145,369       3,687       -         1,368       140,314         149,895       1,944   (5 )     -         3,487       144,464  
Gross profit (loss)     66,193       (3,687 )     -         3,697       66,183         77,162       (1,944 )       -         3,589       75,517  
                                                 
Selling, general and administrative expenses     56,175       2,949       -         4,099       49,127         57,508       1,284   (5 )     -         3,898       52,326  
Depreciation and amortization     4,684       187       -         184       4,313         6,119       -         -         469       5,650  
Income (loss) from operations     5,334       (6,823 )     -         (586 )     12,743         13,535       (3,228 )       -         (778 )     17,541  
                                                 
Interest and other income (expense), net     (3,183 )     -       (425 )       (124 )     (2,634 )       (3,340 )     (390 ) (6 )     (29 )       (116 )     (2,805 )
Income (loss) before (provision) benefit for income taxes                                            
and noncontrolling interest     2,151       (6,823 )     (425 )       (710 )     10,109         10,195       (3,618 )       (29 )       (894 )     14,736  
(Provision) benefit for income taxes     (1,605 )     2,523       175         133       (4,436 )       (6,480 )     728   (5 )     12         (494 )     (6,726 )
Net income (loss)     546       (4,300 )     (250 )       (577 )     5,673         3,715       (2,890 )       (17 )       (1,388 )     8,010  
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interest, net of tax     268       -       -         268       -         606       -         -         606       -  
Net income (loss) attributable to CRA International, Inc.   $ 814     $ (4,300 )   $ (250 )     $ (309 )   $ 5,673       $ 4,321     $ (2,890 )     $ (17 )     $ (782 )   $ 8,010  
                                                 
Net income per share attributable to CRA International, Inc.:                                            
Basic   $ 0.08                   $ 0.53       $ 0.41                     $ 0.76  
Diluted   $ 0.08                   $ 0.53       $ 0.40                     $ 0.75  
                                                 
Weighted average number of shares outstanding:                                            
Basic     10,670                     10,670         10,600                       10,600  
Diluted     10,801                     10,801         10,703                       10,703  
                                                 
(1) During the forty weeks ended September 3, 2010, the Company incurred pre-tax expenses of $6.8 million and related income tax effect of $2.5 million principally associated with an employee workforce reduction designed to better align staffing levels with revenue, closing the Houston, TX office, office space reductions in Boston and Chicago, and restructuring select practice areas.
                                                 
(2) During the forty weeks ended September 3, 2010, the Company repurchased $15.0 million of its convertible bonds at a discount, however, under FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 470-20, "Debt", this resulted in a $0.4 million loss on a pre-tax basis.
                                                 
                                                 
(3) These adjustments include activity related to NeuCo in the Company's GAAP results.
                                                 
(4) These amounts are revised based upon the Company's adoption of FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 470-20, "Debt", which was formerly referred to as FASB Staff Position APB 14-1, "Accounting for Convertible Debt Instruments That May Be Settled in Cash upon Conversion (Including Partial Cash Settlement)". This standard changed the accounting treatment for convertible debt instruments.
                                                 
(5) During the forty weeks ended September 4, 2009, the Company incurred pre-tax expenses of $3.2 million and related income tax effect of $0.7 million associated principally with an employee workforce reduction designed to reduce the Company's operating expenses and improve its utilization rate. The $3.2 million also includes a $0.3 million revision to an estimate for a previously recorded office closure liability.
                                                 
                                                 
(6) During the forty weeks ended September 4, 2009, the Company recognized $0.4 million in foreign currency exchange loss related to the liquidation of the Company's Australian-based operations.
                                                 

(7) During the forty weeks ended September 4, 2009, the Company repurchased $7.0 million of its convertible bonds at a discount, however, under FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 470-20, "Debt", this resulted in a $29,000 loss on a pre-tax basis.

CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS INCLUDING A RECONCILIATION TO NON-GAAP RESULTS
FOR THE SIXTEEN WEEKS ENDED SEPTEMBER 3, 2010, INCLUDING NORMALIZED RESULTS, COMPARED TO THE TWELVE WEEKS ENDED MAY 14, 2010
(In thousands, except per share data)
                                             
    Sixteen Weeks Ended September 3, 2010   Twelve Weeks Ended May 14, 2010  
        Adjustments to   Adjustments to             Adjustments to   Adjustments to   Adjustments to      
    GAAP   GAAP Results   GAAP Results   Non-GAAP   Non-GAAP   GAAP   GAAP Results   GAAP Results   GAAP Results   Non-GAAP  
    Results   (Restructuring) (1)   (NeuCo) (2)   Results   Results Normalized (3)   Results   (Restructuring) (4)   (Bond Buyback) (5)   (NeuCo) (2)   Results  
                                             
                                             
Revenues   $ 84,641     $ -     $ 2,195     $ 82,446     $ 61,835     $ 68,075     $ -     $ -       $ 1,786     $ 66,289    
Costs of services     54,860       -       521       54,339       40,754       50,055       3,687       -         473       45,895    
Gross profit (loss)     29,781       -       1,674       28,107       21,081       18,020       (3,687 )     -         1,313       20,394    
                                             
Selling, general and administrative expenses     22,906       1,625       1,519       19,762       14,821       17,475       1,324       -         1,425       14,726    
Depreciation and amortization     1,959       156       81       1,722       1,292       1,467       31       -         62       1,374    
Income (loss) from operations     4,916       (1,781 )     74       6,623       4,968       (922 )     (5,042 )     -         (174 )     4,294    
                                             
Interest and other income (expense), net     (1,143 )     -       (45 )     (1,098 )     (824 )     (1,235 )     -       (425 )       (49 )     (761 )  
Income (loss) before (provision) benefit for income taxes     3,773       (1,781 )     29       5,525       4,144       (2,157 )     (5,042 )     (425 )       (223 )     3,533    
(Provision) benefit for income taxes     (1,746 )     704       (129 )     (2,321 )     (1,741 )     577       1,819       175         93       (1,510 )  
Net income (loss)     2,027       (1,077 )     (100 )     3,204       2,403       (1,580 )     (3,223 )     (250 )       (130 )     2,023    
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interest, net of tax     44       -       44       -       -       57       -       -         57       -    
Net income (loss) attributable to CRA International, Inc.   $ 2,071     $ (1,077 )   $ (56 )   $ 3,204     $ 2,403     $ (1,523 )   $ (3,223 )   $ (250 )     $ (73 )   $ 2,023    
                                             
Net income per share attributable to CRA International, Inc.:                                    
Basic   $ 0.19             $ 0.30     $ 0.23     $ (0.14 )                 $ 0.19    
Diluted   $ 0.19             $ 0.30     $ 0.22     $ (0.14 )                 $ 0.19    
                                             
Weighted average number of shares outstanding:                                      
Basic     10,650               10,650       10,650       10,713                     10,713    
Diluted     10,734               10,734       10,734       10,713   (6 )                 10,856   (6 )
                                             
                                             
(1) During the sixteen weeks ended September 3, 2010, the Company incurred pre-tax expenses of $1.8 million and related income tax effect of $0.7 million principally associated with the office space reductions in Boston and Chicago.
                                             
(2) These adjustments include activity related to NeuCo in the Company's GAAP results.
                                             
(3) The normalized non-GAAP financial information for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 is on a basis intended to convert the 16-week period to an "as if" 12-week period in order to provide an equivalent comparison to non-GAAP financial information for the 12-week second quarter of fiscal 2010. A factor of 12/16ths is used to calculate the normalized non-GAAP results.
                                             
(4) During the twelve weeks ended May 14, 2010, the Company incurred pre-tax expenses of $5.0 million and related income tax effect of $1.8 million principally associated with an employee workforce reduction designed to better align staffing levels with revenue, closing the Houston, TX office, and restructuring select practice areas.
                                             
                                             
(5) During the twelve weeks ended May 14, 2010, the Company repurchased $15.0 million of its convertible bonds at a discount, however, under FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 470-20, "Debt", this resulted in a $0.4 million loss on a pre-tax basis.
                                             
(6) Approximately 143,000 common stock equivalents are excluded from the GAAP results because they are antidilutive in the second quarter of fiscal 2010 but they are included in the non-GAAP results because they are dilutive.
         
CRA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands)
         
         
    September 3,   November 28,
    2010   2009
         
Assets        
Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments   $ 86,636   $ 106,484
Accounts receivable and unbilled, net     79,110     88,222
Other current assets     28,874     35,076
Total current assets     194,620     229,782
         
Property and equipment, net     16,931     19,050
Goodwill and intangible assets, net     143,940     148,126
Other assets     18,737     25,153
Total assets   $ 374,228   $ 422,111
         
Liabilities and shareholders' equity        
Current liabilities   $ 104,474   $ 79,092
Long-term liabilities     17,591     87,304
Total liabilities     122,065     166,396
         
Total shareholders' equity     252,163     255,715
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity   $ 374,228   $ 422,111

SOURCE: Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates
Wayne D. Mackie, 617-425-3740
Executive Vice President, CFO
or
Sharon Merrill Associates, Inc.
Jim Buckley, 617-542-5300
Executive Vice President