Korn/Ferry’s profit jumps 16% in its fourth quarter

Executive-search firm Korn/Ferry International said fiscal fourth-quarter profit advanced 16% as search requests increased and the company raised its fees.

Net income for the quarter ended April 30 was $15.7 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with $13.5 million, or 30 cents, a year earlier, the Century City-based company said. That matched the average 36-cent estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Sales rose 16% to $220.5 million. Fee revenue increased to $208.2 million. The company had forecast fourth-quarter fee revenue of $195 million to $210 million.

Korn/Ferry said in March that it hadn’t seen “significant deterioration due to any recessionary anxiety.” The company, which has offices in 39 countries, derived more than half of its 2007 revenue from outside the U.S. It said Wednesday that assuming constant foreign-exchange rates, first-quarter fee revenue would be $190 million to $200 million, with earnings of 28 to 32 cents a share.

Korn/Ferry shares fell 89 cents, or 5.3%, to $16.04.