Charles River Associates (CRA) Reports Financial Results for the First Quarter of 2019

CRA Reports Highest Q1 Revenue in Its History;

Broad-based Contributions Across Service Portfolio Drive Revenue
Growth of 6.4% Year-over-Year

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Charles
River Associates (NASDAQ: CRAI), a worldwide leader in providing economic,
financial and management consulting services, today announced
financial results for the fiscal first quarter ended March 30, 2019.

Key First-Quarter Fiscal 2019 Highlights

• Revenue grew 6.4% year over year to $105.8 million. On a constant
  currency basis relative to the first quarter of fiscal 2018 (“constant
  currency basis”), revenue would have been higher by $1.5 million,
  resulting in year-over-year revenue growth of 7.9%.
• Utilization was 75%, as quarter-end headcount increased by 40, or
  6.2%, year over year.
• Net income was $4.7 million, or 4.4% of revenue, compared with $4.9
  million, or 4.9% of revenue, in the first quarter of fiscal 2018;
  non-GAAP net income was $4.5 million, or 4.3% of revenue, compared
  with $5.3 million, or 5.3% of revenue, in the first quarter of fiscal
  2018. On a constant currency basis, GAAP and non-GAAP net income would
  have been lower by $0.1 million.
• Earnings per diluted share were $0.56, compared with $0.57 in the
  first quarter of fiscal 2018; non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were
  $0.54, compared with $0.61 in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. On a
  constant currency basis, GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share
  would have been lower by $0.01 per diluted share.
• Non-GAAP EBITDA was $8.5 million, or 8.0% of revenue, compared with
  $8.6 million, or 8.7% of revenue, in the first quarter of fiscal 2018.
  On a constant currency basis, non-GAAP EBITDA would have been lower by
  $0.1 million.
• Net income, earnings per diluted share, and non-GAAP EBITDA for the
  current period reflect a foreign currency loss of approximately
  $750,000 related to the revaluation and realized gains and losses on
  working capital balances.
• CRA returned $6.0 million of capital to its shareholders, consisting
  of $1.7 million of dividend payments and $4.3 million for share
  repurchases of approximately 87,000 shares.

Management Commentary

“I am pleased to report the highest first quarter revenue in CRA’s
history,” said Paul
Maleh, CRA’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We completed
the quarter with strong performances across our portfolio of practices,
once again demonstrating the continued dedication and hard work of our
entire team. We delivered 75% company-wide utilization while headcount
increased by 6.2%, translating into 7.9% year-over-year revenue growth
on a constant currency basis. On the bottom line, we delivered non-GAAP
net income of $4.5 million, or $0.54 per diluted share. These results
were affected by a foreign currency loss, which reduced our non-GAAP net
income and earnings per diluted share by approximately $0.6 million and
$0.07, respectively.

“Looking more closely at the first quarter, we exhibited strength across
our geographic footprint,” Maleh said. “Our North American operations
grew 6.0%, and our European operations, led by the Antitrust &
Competition Economics practice, grew 7.9% year over year. We also
continued to enjoy broad-based contributions across our service
portfolio with particularly strong performances in our Auctions &
Competitive Bidding, Finance, Financial Economics, Forensic Services,
Intellectual Property, and Life Sciences practices.”

Outlook and Financial Guidance

“As these first quarter results demonstrate, we continue to see strong
demand for our portfolio of services. First quarter lead flow and new
project originations were up more than 5% and 10%, respectively, year
over year. For the full-year fiscal 2019, on a constant currency basis
relative to fiscal 2018, we are reaffirming our previous guidance of
revenue in the range of $430 million to $445 million, and non-GAAP
EBITDA margin in the range of 9.2% to 10.2%. While we are pleased with
our operational performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, we
remain mindful that uncertainties around global economic and political
conditions can affect our business,” Maleh concluded.

CRA does not provide reconciliations of its annual non-GAAP EBITDA
margin guidance to GAAP net income margin because CRA is unable to
estimate with reasonable certainty the revaluation of contingent
consideration liabilities, unusual gains or charges, foreign currency
exchange rates, and the resulting effect of these items, and of equity
awards, on CRA’s taxes without unreasonable effort. These items are
uncertain, depend on various factors, and may have a material effect on
CRA’s results computed in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation between
the historical GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures presented in this
release is provided in the financial tables at the end of this release.

Quarterly Dividend

On May 2, 2019, CRA’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash
dividend of $0.20 per common share, payable on June 14, 2019 to
shareholders of record as of May 28, 2019. CRA expects to continue
paying quarterly dividends, the declaration, timing and amounts of which
remain subject to the discretion of CRA’s Board of Directors.

Conference Call Information and Prepared CFO Remarks

CRA will host a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss its
first-quarter 2019 financial results. To listen to the live call, please
visit the “Investor
Relations” section of CRA’s website at http://www.crai.com,
or dial (877) 709-8155 or (201) 689-8881. An archived
version of the webcast will be available on CRA’s website for one year.

In combination with this press release, CRA has posted prepared remarks
by its CFO Chad Holmes under “Conference
Call Materials” in the “Investor
Relations” section on CRA’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 leading global consulting firm
specializing in economic,
financial, and management consulting services. 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 the world. Detailed
information about Charles River Associates, a registered trade name of
CRA International, Inc., is available at www.crai.com.
Follow us on LinkedIn,
Twitter,
and Facebook.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

In this release, CRA has supplemented the presentation of its financial
results calculated in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting
principles or “GAAP” with financial measures that were not calculated in
accordance with GAAP. CRA believes that the non-GAAP financial measures
described in this press release are important to management and
investors because these measures supplement the understanding of CRA’s
ongoing operating results and financial condition. In addition, these
non-GAAP measures are used by CRA in its budgeting process, and the
non-GAAP adjustments described below are made to the performance
measures for some of CRA’s performance-based compensation.

The adjustments made to the financial measures identified in this
release as “non-GAAP” are as follows: for the first quarter of fiscal
2019, the adjustments exclude non-cash amounts relating principally to
valuation changes in contingent consideration; for the first quarter of
fiscal 2018, the adjustments exclude non-cash amounts relating
principally to valuation changes in contingent consideration, and net
costs related to lease recapture. This release also presents certain
current fiscal period financial measures on a “constant currency” basis
in order to isolate the effect that foreign currency exchange rate
fluctuations can have on CRA’s financial results. These constant
currency measures are determined by recalculating the current fiscal
period local currency financial measure using the specified
corresponding prior fiscal period’s foreign exchange rates. Finally,
this release also presents the non-GAAP financial metric EBITDA.

All of the non-GAAP financial measures referred to above should be
considered in conjunction with, and not as a substitute for, the GAAP
financial information presented in this release. EBITDA and the
financial measures identified in this release as “non-GAAP” are
reconciled to their GAAP comparable measures in the financial tables
appended to the end of this press release. In evaluating these non-GAAP
financial measures, note that the non-GAAP financial measures used by
CRA may be calculated differently from, and therefore may not be
comparable to, similarly titled measures used by other companies.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

Statements in this press release concerning our future business,
operating results and financial condition, including those concerning
guidance on future revenue and non-GAAP EBITDA margin, the impact of
exchange rate fluctuations on our financial results, the continuation of
or building on any trend or momentum, our expectations regarding the
payment of any future quarterly dividends, and statements using the
terms “outlook,” “expect,” or similar expressions, are “forward-looking”
statements as defined in Section 21 of the Exchange Act. These
statements are based upon our current expectations and various
underlying assumptions. Although we believe there is a reasonable basis
for these statements and assumptions, and these statements are expressed
in good faith, these statements are subject to a number of additional
factors and uncertainties. Our actual revenue and non-GAAP EBITDA margin
in fiscal 2019 on a constant currency basis relative to fiscal 2018
could differ materially from the guidance presented herein, and our
actual performance and results may differ materially from the
performance and results contained in or implied by the other
forward-looking statements made herein, due to many important factors.
These factors include, but are not limited to, the possibility that the
demand for our services may decline as a result of changes in general
and industry specific economic conditions; the timing of engagements for
our services; the effects of competitive services and pricing; our
ability to attract and retain key employee or non-employee experts; the
inability to integrate and utilize existing consultants and personnel;
the decline or reduction in project work or activity; global economic
conditions including less stable political and economic environments;
foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; unanticipated expenses and
liabilities; risks inherent in international operations; changes in tax
law or accounting standards, rules, and regulations; our ability to
collect on forgivable loans should any become due; and professional and
other legal liability or settlements. Additional risks and uncertainties
are discussed in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission under the heading “Risk Factors.” The inclusion of such
forward-looking information should not be regarded as our representation
that the future events, plans, or expectations contemplated will be
achieved. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements after the date of this press release, and we do not intend to
do so.

Contacts

Chad Holmes
Chief Financial Officer
Charles River Associates
312-377-2322

Jamie
Bernard, IRC
Senior Associate
Sharon Merrill Associates, Inc.
617-542-5300